From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 11:21:24 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: a retort + a comment + a question = [RANT]
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19961110191947.006a6ae4@pop.pipeline.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Sandy Sandfort wrote:

A brilliant mini essay, which most succinctly answers Samuel P.
Huntington's long essay in November Foreign Affairs.

And recaps the ancient struggle between "public-governmental" 
in the "public interest" and "private-anti-governmental" in the 
"private interest."

Those who argue that the public needs protection from internal and
external enemies -- "national security" -- gloss over that this ideology
has a long heritage as a big-time, self-interested business, or racketeer
influenced organized crime, to be blunt. Colin Powellism breast-fed 
on Fight the Day's Devil milk, like two thousand generations of 
fundamentalist up-and-comers.

For governmental and military and priestly careerism is no different that
the profit or organizational kinds. Each have religio-philosophical 
underpinnings backed by shrewd legislative pie-slicing-and-distribution
with crucial physical enforcement to fend off those who didn't get a 
slice and are hungrily pissed at the collusive exclusion.

A lot of this smoke is PR machines blowing hard for each of the Big Bands:
Gov, Mil, Com, Org, Edu, Etc. Blurring the distinctions, stealing from one
another, swapping personnel and programs, doling out contracts, 
racing to copy the latest ploy, apology, attack, whine, while securing 
those ancient by-the-rule perks against the ruthless up-and-comers.

Mafia, military, crypto shooters -- taking orders for small kisses of 
blessing/death, climbing the ladder of earthly reward.

Still, global anarcho-bands of mercenary bandits, hmm, what's that
411 for International Terrorist Gun Show -- er, military-industrial
showcases of megadeath?