From: Scott Badger (wbadger@psyberlink.net)
Date: Fri Jul 03 1998 - 09:36:22 MDT
davelook <davelook@gsinet.net> wrote:
> Maybe some us extropians need to bone up on what the all the fuss is
>about
>and why some Americans are claiming that the govt is violating our rights.
>Then maybe they won't be so keen on letting the govt track every move and
>transaction.
>
Yes, violations . . . even atrocities . . . are committed by government
officials. They do it because they can. Everyone has been talking on this
thread in terms of a loss of privacy being a one-way street. But what if
the public had the ability to track government officials and know what
*they* were up to at any point? What if they, too, were under constant
surveillance? I think that might end the great majority of government
offenses against its people as well as the offenses of people against their
government. I know many extropians don't like governmental systems but
wouldn't a government be viable if it was truly ruled by the people? It
could be if were constantly scrutinized and couldn't get away with anything
that wasn't approved of by the majority. If we allowed ourselves to lose
privacy without requiring the same from our leaders, we *would* be in deep
trouble. I never meant to imply anything else.
S.B.
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