From: Jeremiah A Blatz <darklord+@CMU.EDU>
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 94 23:28:03 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Politics do not belong here
In-Reply-To: <199404030036.QAA21257@nunki.usc.edu>
Message-ID: <8hbazSq00iV2I5HqI5@andrew.cmu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 2-Apr-94 Re:  Politics do not
belong.. by Julietta@chaph.usc.edu 
>         I'm sorry, but I feel so strongly about your message "Politics
> do not belong on this list" that I was compelled to reply...
[.. stuff that I agree with follows ..]

Many apologies. Aparently I was not clear enough in defining what I
meant by politics. I was refering to bickering about the correctness of
liberals or conservatives, left or right, etc. Cryptography is
political, a point which I alluded to in my original post, but unless
you're in the Cryptoparty or the Big Brother party, which party line you
subscribe to matters little. Politicly, cypherpunks is a one-issue list,
and flaming about "my party is better than yours" serves only to clog
peoples' mailboxes and create discord.
I'm not quite sure I'm being clear here (it's kinda late), what I mean
to say is that IMO, you should check your non-crypto-related idealogy at
the login prompt when posting to this list.

Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 2-Apr-94 Re: Politics do not belong
.. by Greg Broiles@ideath.gold 
> I don't think there is one agenda shared by all
> list subscribers. As I see it, "cypherpunks" follows the Earth First!
> model of (dis/anti) organization - there are no leaders, there is no
> "policy", there is no voting, there is no platform.

Saying that Earth First! doesn't have an agenda is, as I see it, wrong.
They exist to protect the environment. As in any organization, they are
not homogeneous, but there is an underlying direction. The same with
cypherpunks. The very name implies some sort of drive towards widespread
strong encryption. Not everyone agrees on how to go about it, but one
can definatly perceive an agenda (probably "thrust" is a better word).

Greg Broiles continues...
> Our differences and disagreements are
> significant but they can also distract us from shared goals.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Jer

darklord@cmu.edu | "it's not a matter of rights  / it's just a matter of war
finger me for my |  don't have a reason to fight / they never had one before"
   Geek Code and |                                    -Ministry, "Hero"
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