Re: May's Banal Rant

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

And this is the third, and hopefully final for now, article forwarded from
that sublist discussion this morning. As before, the comments of the other
person are paraphrased.

--Tim


>Date: Mon, 2 Jun 1997 12:30:57 -0700
>To: xxxxx
>From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
>Subject: Re: May's Banal Rant
>Cc: xxxxx

(Expresses the view that I am smarter than Bell--damning with faint
praise?--and probably will not be arrested for the sorts of activities Bell
is alleged to have engaged in.)

>
>It depends on whether Bell is hit with "conspiracy" charges. It the
>charges are limited to (alleged) Social Security Number fraud, related tax
>charges, and (alleged) stink bomb charges, then I don't expect any visit
>from the Federales. But, one might ask, why is Bell being held without
>bail and why does the affidavit (or whatever) refer to the various other
>conspiracies he is said to have been involved in?
>
>As for my "nuke DC" rhetoric, this is classic protected speech. In fact,
>most of my comments about "50 megatons of nuclear disinfectant" and
>suchlike are recognizable to anyone with any acumen as being classic "hang
>the bastards" sentiment.
>
>(I've written more serious comments about "soft targets," expressing the
>quite accurate point of view that in these perilous times, with nerve
>gases being released in Tokyo subways, with truck bombs used or
>almost-used, with train derailments in the West, etc., that the best
>protection is to avoid living in soft targets, the "Schelling points" any
>terrorist or antigovernment group would be more likely to target. In
>classsic "kill the messenger" tradition, these comments are taken by some
>to mean I advocate bombings of these soft targets.)

(Speaks of what he views as the "discrediting" of Cypherpunks amonst
businessmen, the media, crypto programmers, politiicians, lobbyists, and
the general Net community.)


>"Businessmen" have never liked the crypto anarchist message we have
>traditionally discussed. Not since Day One.  Some have tried to _use_ us,
>to enlist our support, but none have liked our message.
>
>The "discrediting" of the Cypherpunks, now that the media knows we exist,
>is unavoidable. The NRA has similarly been "discredited." (And even
>factions within the NRA, notably the faction led by Charlton Heston, is
>denouncing factions which argue for a strong interpretation of the Second
>Amendment as "crazies." This is always the way it goes.)
>


(He thinks this "discrediting" will affect important projects and "good work.")

>As I've said in my past messages, you should write the essays you want to
>see and start the threads you want to read.
>
>--Tim May
>

My final comment. I am tempted to write up a long article analyzing how the
Cypherpunks list has changed over the past 5 years, and who has been on it
and off it. Maybe later.

Suffice it to say for now that many people have been on the list, and then
dropped off. For lots of reasons. And their reasons are not something I
feel I need to worry about. They'll do what they want to do. Some graduated
from school, some got crypto jobs, some decided they'd had enough, some
agreed with the basic views but were ready to move on, some despised our
basic outlook, some were told by their employers their subversive
activities were a career impediment, some disliked the yahoos and lunatics,
some wanted censorship and left when they didn't get it, some never
bothered to resubscribe after being dropped for one reason or another, and
so on.

Life goes on. I don't worry that we "lost" Peter Wayner, or that we "lost"
David Sternlight, and so on. Life goes on.

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."