From: Blanc Weber <blancw@microsoft.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 19:29:05 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Crypto Takes a Backseat (NYET, Children, etc.)
Message-ID: <9408010229.AA19967@netmail2.microsoft.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Children, Censorship, Pornography, & Who's Right It Is to Interfere:

I have asked myself at times what I would do about abuse towards a 
child if I were to become personally aware of one, as well as what 
would be the proper resolution to the fact that freedom & liberty means 
exposure to not only the best, but the worst that is possible in humans.

I couldn't accept interfering with a family and their progeny; I 
couldn't advocate setting up a body of overseers to pretend that they 
are the ultimate authority on how to raise the young to become at least 
as perfect as their elders.

I have settled upon the idea of alternatives:
when alternatives are existent, those who need and are searching for 
what these alternatives provide will be able to overcome the attempted 
influences upon their minds & bodies;  if there is a place where 
children could go if they found their life at home abusive or 
unbearable (and they were aware of this place, or these people) then 
they themselves could seek relief & assistance there.  If they were 
restricted or limited in their contacts at home, then they could go to 
wherever else other access to information is available (and don't 
children accomplish this, anyway, usually to the surprise and 
consternation of their parents?).   I think the best solution would be 
to make available the kind of assistance which children themselves 
could take it upon themselves to seek at their discretion, if they 
thought their situation called for it.  What could anyone object, if a 
child was to make their discomfort & unhappiness apparent by seeking 
the help of another who was willing to come to their aid?  This would 
not be interferance, but still satisfy the desires of those who have 
concerns about injustices to the vulnerabilities of kids.

In an open environment where all things are possible, where you never 
know what you're going to get (in that box of chocolates), it would be 
best to have recovery systems in operation where the damage would be 
limited and correction would be possible & easier to achieve.   
Intelligence should make its impression upon the lives of free 
individuals above what the limited concepts and fears of some would 
propose.  This implies open discussion, communication, the ability to 
present a better view of life, better ideas, and wiser alternatives.

Children like to know that their parents care for them, that their 
parents are interested in their physical & mental welfare.   I think 
that they would prefer the guidance of their parents above that of 
strangers, that they would prefer that those whom they admire could 
provide the best counsel to them, and to give their parents the credit 
for having the best judgement on the block.  But if sympathetic 
guidance & open discussion is not a part of their family's atmosphere, 
this leaves the seeking mind to find other sources of knowledge about 
the way the world works, and other sources of seeming authority to fill 
in the vaccuum.

I think that the future is calling for much preparation of the 
intellect towards a greater ability to deal with the abstract while not 
leaving the level of the concrete (not that this isn't always 
important). The technological innovations which are continuously being 
created, improved, advanced require that a person be facile in dealing 
with new & advanced concepts as well.  This also requires that a person 
be able to maintain their contact with the real world and not go off in 
ignorance with an imagination which lacks a knowledge of real processes 
and of how things (life, social systems, income, etc.) are made possible.

The challenge of the new frontier is magnified in the world of ideas & 
information; if the individual (child or adult) is to be free to 
indulge in all the new toys being made available, then they must have a 
way to deal with what s/he will confront there on every level, for 
personal efficacy and for effective self-defense against the things 
which one would/should not choose to tolerate, whatever one's age group.

Blanc
[Enlightening Disclaimer:  These comments are derived from my own 
intellect, not my employer's.]