We are Becoming Politically Correct Sheep

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Perry Metzger writes, about the reaction to the "junk bits" file I posted
in a controversial new group, "alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children":

>Michael Ross says:
>> Tim,
>> 
>> That was very manipulative, and did not achieve much. 
>
>I wholely disagree. Tim's post to alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children 
>was a valuable exercise even given its limitations.
>

Of course I agree with Perry, though I also respect the others who have
posted disagreements (sometimes strong!) here on this List or in the
various newsgroups...that's what free speech is all about.

Bear in mind that most of the "Cypherpunks agenda," to the extent we can
identify it, is likely to provoke ordinary citizens into _outrage_. Talk of
anonymous mail, digital money, money laundering, information markets, data
havens, undermining authority, transnationalism, and all the rest (insert
your favorite idea) is not exactly mainstream.

While I don't personally care for the "kiddie porn" I've seen (the David
Hamilton photos of young girls and the occasional Mapplethorpe photos in
news reports), the issues raised in this area are of great importance. (I
don't plan to argue for or against these images in this forum, though.)

If we back down every time a censor screams "Illegal!," then very few of
our agenda items will ever see the light of day.

So long as physical violence or coercion is not involved, I see no reason
to restrict the activities of others. I completely reject the concept of
"class-based crimes," such as:

- conventional erotica and pornography should be banned because it is
degrading to women, objectifies them, etc. (ironically, unless of course it
is "made by and for wimmin," a loophole added by Andrea Dworkin and her
supporters after they discovered their anti-porn crusade in Canada and
elsewhere would put an end to Lesbian porn mags like "Yellow Silk"!).

- I put "child porn" in this category because only the actual coercion of
children--if it is happening--should be stopped. (And even this is
confusing, as coercion of children happens all the time--we call it
"parenting.")

A mere image carries no proof that this coercion has happened, for the many
reasons I have cited and others have cited (e.g., the child may have
willingly participated, the "child" may be 18 and merely look 15, the
images may have come from other countries where the customs and laws are
different, the image may have been computer-generated or morphed, and so
on).

- "racist jokes" are being targeted for elimination in many of the Usenet
groups, by halting the carrying of "offensive" newsgroups. Legal purists
will of course note that this is not "censorship" in the legal/government
sense. IMHO, the English language needs a new term for something between
the one extreme of government censorship and the other extreme of personal
choice, perhaps something like "institutional censorship." Being a free
market sort of person, I have no problems with, say, Apple Computer
deciding not to carry "alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children" or
"rec.humor.funny.cripples," but it still a _form_ of "institutional
censorship." [especially when they are acting so as to head off legal
action, as I describe below]

- read the "academic freedom" group (I forget the exact title...search for
"acad-free" in your newsreader) and you'll see that more and more
universities are using the "sexual harassment" laws/codes to stop certain
newsgroups, to halt the distribution of sexually oriented images, and to
take disciplinary action against students (mostly male) who have put GIFs
on their computers or workstations (apparently female students who walk
past an office in which female models are used as startup screens have
decided they are being "sexually assaulted" or "harassed").

[An important point to make here is that many of these institutions are
taking actions largely because they fear that if they don't, the plaintiffs
will take their case to the _government_ legal system, perhaps by suing the
university for "condoning an atmosphere hostile to womym and other people
of color." <insert smileys here, lest I be sued for insulting colored
people> If there was no threat of ultimate legal action, much of this
"institutional censorship" would vanish, and people could just concentrate
on doing their jobs, with or without calendars of "Miss Usenet" gracing
their walls.]

- discussion of ways to undermine the State, via crypto anarchy and strong
crypography, are likely to be targets of future crackdowns. Sedition laws,
conspiracy laws, RICO, etc. How long before speaking on these matters earns
a warning letter from your university or your company? [Again, I think it's
the "big stick" of ultimate government action that spurs these univeristy
and company policies. Apple fears being shut down for having "involvement"
with a terrorist plot, Emory University fears being sued for millions of
dollars for "conspiring" to degrade wimmin of color, etc.)

- how long before "rec.guns" is no longer carried at many sites, as they
fear having their universities or companies linked to discussions of
"assault weapons" and "cop-killer bullets"?

[Prediction: Many companies and universities, under pressure from the Feds,
will block groups in which encrypted files are posted. After all, if one
encrypts, one must have something to hide, and that could expose the
university to legal action from some group that feels aggrieved.]


So, free speech is under assault across the country. The tort system is
being abused to stifle dissentinting views (and lest you think I am only a
capitalist, only a free marketeer, the use of "SLAPP suits"--"Strategic
Lawsuits Against Public Participation"--by corporations or real estate
developers to threaten those who dare to publicly speak against their
projects is a travesty, a travesty that the courts have only recently begun
to correct).

We are becoming a nation of sheep, fearing the midnight raid, the knock on
the door. We fear that if we tell a joke, someone will glare at us and
threaten to sue us _and_ our company! And so companies are adopting "speech
codes" and other such baggage of the Orwell's totalitarian state. Political
correctness is extending its tendrils into nearly every aspect of life in
America.

Time to fight back. 

-Tim May
--
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: by arrangement
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