From: hallam@w3.org
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 06:45:58 +0800
To: "James M. Cobb" <jcobb@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com>
Subject: Re: No Privacy Right in Indonesia ?
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSD.3.91.951117175152.9898M-100000@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com>
Message-ID: <9511202205.AA28370@zorch.w3.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>An 11 17 95 Reuter Information Service newsstory headlined 
> 
>     Politics, not sex, is Indonesian Internet's concern 

Absolutely. We designed it this way. One of the key ideas was to provide such 
governments with a choice between having their power structures erroded by 
democratic influences or to sink into technological obsolecence.

The US govt. stands to do best from all this. Democratic govt.s in general
will win. Those that will lose are those which attempt to stamp a political 
or cultural orthodoxy on their people. 

Communication is the greatest threat to tyranny. That is why all tyrannies 
must control communications. It is worth considering that when Stalin died
he was considered the saviour of the country, even by those who should have
known the truth. It was only afte Kruschev's speech to the closed session
that the truth became known inside the party. Note that even those who were
the victims of the oppression had believed that Stalin was a hero. "It is
a mistake", "if only Stalin knew" yet Stalin knew all along and this was 
obvious to the outside observer.

East Germany fell when the size of the defections became known within the 
country. It was clear that the regime was bankrupt and that people were
voting with their feet. 

Cuba will not be brought down by sanctions, that policy has failed for
thirty years and shows no signs of achieving anything. On the other hand
the communist structures would probably be sewpt away in months were the US
to admit defeat (thus acknowledging the Cuban peoples "victory") and start 
package tourist flights. Once it was in the interests of the nomenclatura
to become capitalists they would change.

South Africa was not brought down by sanctions per se, they had an
effect because they demonstrated that the Western world did not accept
the appartheid principles. South Africa tried to see itself as a part
of the West and that was crucial to the apartheid mindset. Sanctions
demonstrated that South Africa was not considered a friend or aly. 


		Phill