From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 10:57:04 +0800
To: Declan McCullagh <hedges@sirius.infonex.com>
Subject: Re: politics aren't all or nothing
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970918145504.29000S-100000@sirius.infonex.com>
Message-ID: <v03102809b04797629c55@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 5:01 PM -0700 9/18/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>At 15:16 -0700 9/18/97, Mark Hedges wrote:
>>My problem with the "it's hopeless, politicians are idiots" approach is
>>the same as my problem with Tim May's approach
>
>Sure, not all DC politicans are idiots. Most are damn smart. All are
>cunning. But just because they understand the technology doesn't mean
>they're going to vote the right way.
>
>In fact, I could see Tim May arguing if they understand the implications of
>crypto, they'll //definitely// vote the wrong way.

In fact, I _have_ argued exactly this point.

Hoping that if only Congress spends more time learning about an issue, or
that we educate them better, or that smarter people enter politics, is
missing the entire point.  The technologies we are promoting are the tools
to undermine the State, make tax collection harder, and ensure that groups
like White Aryan Resistance and Hamas and so on can thrive and link up
globally, transnationally, and without government interference. In short,
the stuff I've had in my .sig for the past five years.

Democracy is the problem, not the solution. Thus, nothing Congress can do
is good for our goals, except to get the fuck out of the way. And the best
way to do that is for them to be paralyzed and confused. (This is why I
favor feeding them disinformation, and even disrupting their computer and
other systems. Get those burrowcrats spinning in their warrens.)


>>I got a personal reply from a Senator to whom I sent that last release
>>(the one interviewing Michael Wilson of 7Pillars). It wasn't one of those
>>autoresponders -- it just said "Thank you for your views" with bad text
>>formatting. At least it did get someone's attention. It might be negative
>
>Sure, you got //someone's// attention. From an $18,000-a-year
>just-out-of-college staffer who lives in a group house in Arlington, VA
>with three other people who gets paid to answer phones, open letters,
>address envelopes, and reply to email. You think it was "a a personal reply
>from a Senator?" Not a chance.

Declan echoes my cynicism. Oh, and the other thing those junior politician
wannabees do is weigh the pro/con letters. (Which is why the Republican
Right set up huge direct mail campaigns in the late 70s.)

Politics is not the answer.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."