"Rigorous and objective"

[Tim May]

On Tuesday, November 13, 2001, at 11:00 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:

>
> Faustine says:
>> There's no reason you can't keep your hardcore beliefs to yourself 
>> while
>> doing the most rigorous and objective analysis you can.
>
> This is an attractive, but, alas, naive plan.
>
> So your closeted-libertarian-analyst presents a "rigorous and objective
> analysis" saying raising the minimum wage will put people out of work?
> Your opponents will present someone who argues otherwise. Your analyst
> says that gun control saves lives? Opponents will ring up Handgun 
> Control.
> Your analyst says that his interpretation of the Commerce Clause
> is the correct one? Someone else will cite chapter and verse otherwise.

Besides the above points, a "rigorous and objective analysis" is work 
for bean counters...and is only interesting to other bean counters.

What got the Cypherpunks rolling was not "rigorous and objective 
analysis." Faustine has gradstudentitus. She or he will likely get his 
or her Masters or maybe even Ph.D. and will then vanish into the bowels 
of the Office of Implementational Policy Assessment, commuting to work 
each morning on the Metro, hoping to advance to GS-13 level before age 
40, and generally living a life of quiet desperation. But her or his 
analysis papers will be suitably dry and rigorous...and ignorable.

>
>> Sadly enough, you're probably right.
>> But isn't it about time somebody started trying? I think so.
>
> Again, you're naive. Cato, CEI, IHS, IJ, have tried. Victory is
> not exactly expected anytime soon.
>
> Might as well write code, as someone once said.

Two of our sessions at that Sierra retreat were vastly more useful than 
99% of the CATO and related "dry and rigorous" b.s. papers. One was a 
session on mapping the security holes in Bay Area government 
installations...most gubment sites are trivially accessible from 
wireless connections: sit in the parking lot a few buildings away and 
take down the Evil Empire!

Another interesting late night session was on ways to knock down 
airliners. The obvious approaches, but also a bunch of creative new 
ideas. Not for the faint of heart, of course, as a few pounds of Semtex 
up the butt is not exactly pleasant...but it's damned near undetectable 
by even their multimillion dollar scanners.

The thermite attack on bridge suspension cables also got discussed.  
Sarin, ricin, and India-1967 were covered in another session.

Meanwhile, grey burrowcrats are burrowing into their burrows in D.C., 
busily writing "rigorous and objective" reports on the benefits of 
welfare and why gun control is cost-effective. Feh. I hope to see the 
day when millions of them are gassed.

--Tim May, Citizen-unit of of the once free United States
" The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood 
of patriots & tyrants. "--Thomas Jefferson, 1787