No Subject

[anonymous@extropia.wimsey.com]

   > From: pmetzger@lehman.com ("Perry E. Metzger")
   > To:   "L. Detweiler" <ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu>

 > *we* *are* our government. How can it not be more obvious? What does it
 > say about our character if we are resigned to deprivation?

> WE ARE NOT OUR GOVERNMENT.

> I have an interesting fact for you, Mr. Detweiler. I did not choose
> the government I live under. I chose none of its parts, agreed to none
> of its actions, selected none of its members (not one person I've ever
> voted for has been elected, and I only vote in self defense, not as an
> endorsement of the system), and I agree with virtually none of its
> actions. Sadly, this is the best country I know of to live in, so
> leaving is not an option. However, don't for one minute claim that
> this is *my* government. It is the government that rules me, to be
> sure, but it is my master, not my servant. I would not choose to have
> it operate as it does were I given the choice. It is not mine.

Yes, absolutely.  This discussion may be considered tangential, but the
issue here is at the core of the cypherpunks raison d'etre.  Detweiller
seems to be tremendously confused about the source of government and
unaware of the emergence of the American State.  I personally feel that
I have zero representation in what passes for our "democratic"
government for the reasons you mention, exactly.  I find myself amazed
to encounter the numbers of "mainstream Americans" who have gradually
come to the same conclusion, independent of outside prompting.

My only hope, personally, is to fight vigorously (perhaps literally, in
due course) for the maintenance of the Bill of Rights as protection
against the tyranny of _both_ the mob and the State.  I personally see
the prospect of an electronic so-called democracy to be terrifying, a
mechanism whose technical subversion would be trivial for the State's
assets, say the NSA.  Simple manipulation by propaganda would be even
easier.  Read Orwell.  Read Zamyatin.

Cypherpunks are providing the basis for long-range, (relatively) secure
communication between those activists and thinkers who may have the
power to bring down the State and restore the individual autonomy this
nation was originally devised to foster.  In the past year I have had
the privilege to see a de facto cadre of brilliant men and women
develop from formerly isolated individuals, all thanks to computer
networks and the emergence of secure communication.  I have found
answers to questions I have been asking for twenty-five years, and
provided information that answered similar questions for others.  I have
seen the product of these private communications develop into public
statements that have demonstrably influenced the political outlooks of
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of casual computer network users.

The ability of computer networks and secure communication has in itself
empowered and radicalized an otherwise disenfranchised body of valuable
and vital Americans.

Really, this is heady stuff.  It gives me reason to stick around and
watch this country for a few more years.