What is a cypherpunk?

[Steve Thompson]

 --- Justin <justin-cypherpunks at soze.net> wrote: 
> On 2005-02-16T13:31:14-0500, Steve Thompson wrote:
> >  --- "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com> wrote: 
> > [snip]
> > > Property is like rights. We create it inherently, because we're
> human,
> > > it
> > > is not bestowed upon us by someone else. Particularly if that
> property
> > > is
> > > stolen from someone else at tax-time.
> > 
> > But as long as property rights are generally considered to be a tenet
> and
> > characteristic of society, excuses for officiated theft, for instance,
> > merely put a veneer of legitimacy over certain kinds of theft.  I
> doubt
> > that RMS will ever be framed, arrested and thrown in to the gulag, his
> > property confiscated; but for someone like myself, that is certainly
> an
> > option, eh?  
> 
> Is there a difference between property rights in a society like a pride
> of lions, and property rights that are respected independent of social
> status?  Or are they essentially the same?  They seem to be different,
> but I can't articulate why.  Obviously the latter needs enforcement,
> possibly courts, etc., but I can't identify a more innate difference,
> other than simply as I described it -- property rights depending on
> social status, and property rights not depending on social status.
> 
> I don't think any society has ever managed to construct a pure property
> rights system where nobody has any advantage.  Without government it's
> the strong.  With government, government agents have an advantage, and
> rich people have an advantage because they can hire smart lawyers to get
> unfair court decisions.  So maybe this is just silly, in which case I
> believe even more strongly that formal status-independent property
> rights are not the basis of government.

Whatever.  See the sentence I wrote last in my previous message.
When you grow the fuck up, drop me a line.


Regards,

Steve

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