From: Michael S. Lorrey (mike@datamann.com)
Date: Wed Apr 05 2000 - 14:34:49 MDT
Zero Powers wrote:
> >From: "Billy Brown" <bbrown@transcient.com>
> >
> >Zero Powers wrote:
> > > >From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net>
> > > >Just a theory, but maybe...
> > > >
> > > >* In order to effectively use these technologies, one must acquire a
> > > > lot of knowledge.
> > > >* In the process of acquiring said knowledge, people typically learn of
> > > > ways to solve problems better (cheaper/faster/more effective) than
> > > > violence and mass slaughter.
> > >
> > > My theory: R-E-T-A-L-I-A-T-I-O-N
> > >
> > > Can you imagine the vengence which would be unleashed on some penny-ante
> > > tyrant if he unleashed a biotech attack on the US or its close allies?
> > > KA-friggin-BOOM brother!
> >
> >What about terrorists, mail bombers, and general nutcases? Retaliation
> >isn't a big issue for them - they already face death if caught, and it is
> >hard to imagine a bigger manhunt than the ones they already trigger with
> >spectacular conventional attacks.
>
> Right. Which leads me to believe that your average terrorists, mail
> bombers, and general nutcases do not have access to this technology.
> Otherwise they'd use it.
The idea that a Luddite would use NBC type technology is laughable, the idea
that they would use nanotech is ludicrous. Gives em the heebie jeebies so much
you won't get them near it. Ted Kazinski, for example, purposely made his bombs
as simple as possible, and were treasures of 'found art' in that he hacked them
together from odds and ends, and built them into wooden boxes.
Also keep in mind what the targets of such terrorism are: governments.
Terrorists would not have anyone to make demands of in a society which is
ungoverned, who do they send their manifesto to? They have to send it to as many
people as possible, right? In such a decentralized society, where people would
be used to taking care of themselves, how long do you think such a person would
last on the street? Leaving it up to the market to determine countermeasures is
the solution, however the ability of corporations to avoid paying for
externalities needs to be addressed.
Mike Lorrey
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