On Needing Killing

[Justin]

Major Variola (ret) (2004-04-11 16:42Z) wrote:

> Blacknet is a robust archive for words, immune to force
> (by State or private actors), but merely words.

With all due respect to the principle of freedom of speech and all that,
I think that cypherpunks, and people in general, give far too little
respect to words, as if words are a vague, unimportant, and remote link
in the chain of causation of acts or failure-to-acts.  I don't see
anything wrong with Orwell's view that words control the future's view
of history.  His certainly have.

I think mass anonymity and cypherpunk-ish society aren't themselves
motive forces on the level of the _contents_ of some anonymous speech
that would be facilitated by those institutions.  That's the whole
point, right?  What would be the use of cypherpunk society if the speech
and data havens it allowed were "merely words"?

I'm unconvinced that there isn't a deterministic component to the
speech->action transition.  Even though the results of some speech may
be extraordinarily terrible, restrictions on free speech are artifacts
of previous, equally terrible free speech that has achieved a foothold
in government.

-- 
"You took my gun.  It's just your word against mine!"
"Not necessarily."
  -Bernie vs Tom, Miller's Crossing