From: lucifer@dhp.com (lucifer Anonymous Remailer)
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 10:33:11 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Guilty!
Message-ID: <199706040210.WAA04896@dhp.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



  There are now laws against everything and everyone is guilty of
something.
  The debate over McVeigh's guilt versus the government's guilt has as
little meaning as the coming debate over McVeigh's right to take a life
versus the government's right to take a life.
  The government can pass laws against the use of crypto or against the
bombing of federal buildings and the debating teams can line up to rant
about the justice or injustice being perpetrated by the individual or
by the government. In the end, we are left with the body count, whether
the body bags are filled with children or freedoms.

  Did McVeigh bomb the OKC building? Did Oswald kill Kennedy? Does it
really matter?
  If the CIA wasn't involved in the killing of JFK, they could have 
been. If the BATF wasn't involved in the OKC bombing, they could have
been. We all recognize the government's need/ability to interfere in
the natural course of events in order to retain the power they have to
"protect and defend" the country/government. What differs is our own
perception of whether our interests are better served by the government
or by those working in opposition to the government.

  When the government confiscates land to use for flood control, their
actions are a threat to those who lose a homestead and a boon to those
who will no longer be flooded. When the governement launches an assault
on Branch Davidians their actions are a threat to those with unconvent-
ional religious beliefs and a boon to those with mainstream religious
beliefs who don't want their family members' minds "stolen" by some
"cult."
  When someone bombs a Federal Building they are a threat to those who
have a vested interest in the government maintaining business as usual
and a boon to those who want the government to think twice before
blatantly assaulting the citizenry.

  In the end, we are left with a body count and the bodies are either
ours or those of others.
  In the end, we either look over our shoulder, or we don't, before we
enter a federal building, or sign a search warrant, or reply to a post
by Jim Bell.
  And, in the end, we will never know how many of the children who died
at Waco would have grown up to bomb Federal Buildings. We will never
know how many of the children who died in OKC would have grown up to
be imprisoned for using crypto, or slaughtered by another government
assault on an unorthodox religious congregation.

  In the end, every action we take will have a government assault team
or a Timothy McVeigh waiting to support or oppose it. If we oppose both
Waco and the OKC bombing, then we are a threat to both government and
anti-government factions.
  If we support free speech then we are a threat to those who might be
attacked and threatened by its use. If we support privacy we are a
threat to those who are attacked by anonymous sources. If we support
freedom, we are a threat to those who already have a place in the sun,
a piece of the pie, a position to defend.

  In the end, we are trampled to death in the crowded theater in which
someone has shouted "Fire!" or we end up in prison for shouting "Fire!"
in an *empty* theater. (And Rottenberg defends his support of the
original legislation which required at least ten people to be present
in the theater before shouting "Fire!" became a felony.)
  The bottom line is that life is a crapshoot.
  We support legislation that requires us to register our religious
faith so that the government can protect us from future religious 
discrimination and then we find out that "Lutherans" go to the death
camps. We oppose the legislation and later lose our homes and jobs 
because we have no proof of our religious affiliation.

  The bottom line is that no matter what our position in life, no matter
what our beliefs, opinions and actions, there are a few billion other
entities sharing our world who are organized into camps which support or
oppose us today and may do the opposite tomorrow.
  Even our actions in our own self-interests may work against us in the
future, as the result of a chain of external events. For all of our
positions and our posturing, we are, at best, pissing in the wind when
we join in the various pissing contests in life.

  I once had a friend whose parting phrase was always, "Don't get any
on you."
  I am beginning to understand what he meant.

TruthMonger