From: The Low Golden Willow (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Date: Tue Nov 04 1997 - 13:26:37 MST
} > Mutual Assured Surveillance
} I assume this is the ship David Brin is on?
Well, inspired by him. Actually I previewed the manuscript for _The
Transparent Society_ and I liked most of the ideas. It's less a
coherent logical argument like the Communist Manifesto or the
Libertarian Party platform than an expression of attitude and an attempt
to change how people think about the issues. Like some of Freeman
Dyson's books.
My blurbification of attitude;
Freedom is more important than privacy.
Privacy owes more to freedom than freedom owes to privacy.
Security may come from arms races, but probably not pleasantly or
stably.
Better to live with a press corps and no constitution than a
constitution and no press corps.
If you try to ban something that restricts it to the powerful and
criminals. If you try to legally restrict the flow of information
that means the powerful and criminals will have more information
about citizens than vice versa. This is not good.
This is only part of it. I still don't have his deep distrust of
encryption but I agree that it is unlikely to magically kill off
government.
Merry part,
-xx- Damien R. Sullivan X-) <*> http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix
And I'll set my sails of silver
And I'll steer toward the sun
And you false love shall weep for me
When I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm GONE!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:45:05 MST