Re: Crypto's Role in Evil?

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 5:01 PM 10/9/95, Lucky Green wrote:

>Correct, Blanc. That's why I am saving my pennies to buy an AR-15. I know
>the government of the near future will not be in a position to stand in
>the way of my involuntary participation in organ transplant experiments.
>It will be up to the individual and voluntary neighborhood associations,
>etc. to provide our personal security.

While I don't want to comment on AR-15s and the possible need for them,
this being a strong cryptography group, this is a good time to mention to
newcomers to the list that the book "Snow Crash," by Neal Stephenson,
offers a wickedly satirical look at a possible future for America. (Other
books of interest include: Vernor Vinge's "True Names," David Friedman's
"The Machinery of Freedom," Hakim Bey's "TAZ," Orson Scott Card's "Ender's
Game," Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," and John Brunner's "The Shockwave
Rider.")

One of the reasons I advocate having a minimal set of laws and then
strongly enforcing them is that having too many laws makes enforcement of
the _important_ laws very difficult. Having too many laws, such as the laws
about what one can do with one's own money (chillingly recounted this
morning by Doug Barnes in his trip report), also blurs the lines between
what is really criminal and what it is not.

It's clear that cops cannot protect people, only try to catch the perpetrators.

In certain demographic groups, 30% of all males between the ages of 15 and
30 are either in jail, are awaiting trial, are on probabation, or have been
in jail. California is on a massive prison-building campaign. (Many of
these prisons would not be needed if essentially all behaviors except
murder, rape, theft, etc., were legal, and if transfer payments into inner
cities were cut off...the "criminal" gangs would not have much to do and
would wither away in time.)

Given the current trends, certain courses of action become clear.

(Personal note: I'm amazed at the number of "punks" of various flavors who
continue to live in crowded cities, given the capabilities of
communications technology, and the race wars now accelerating in these rat
cages. But then I'm not one of those dressed-in-black-with-noserings kind
of "punk." To each their own.)

--Tim May


Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."