From: Anonymous <anon@anon.efga.org>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 23:35:49 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: No Subject
Message-ID: <858794b0d66cf1f95b7a9df28fd3b0aa@anon.efga.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> > >   It is only now, in supporting your viewpoint out of sheer
> > > contrariness, as opposed to being in agreement, that I have
> > > finally figured out that your stance is a true CypherPunk
> > > position.

I have long held that most of those passing through the hallowed halls
of the cypherpunks list are not cypherpunks, but entities who are
striving to become cypherpunks--once they succeed, most of them move
on to other pursuits and activities.
Thank God that there are those who maintain their presence on the list
over long enough periods of time to help newbies and neophytes to
develop a cypherpunk frame of mind.

> > >   The InterNet is truly a macrocosm of the many societal
> > > microcosms already in existence. It is up to each and every
> > > one of us to fit into our environment, strive to change it,
> > > or abandon it for a different environment.
> >
> > Yikes!  Profound shit, Toto.  How come you didn't post this to the
> > list?  Are you pulling my cyber-leg?

Ross Wright, spam-promoter extraordinare, has become so gun-shy that
he can no longer recognize the difference between sarcasm and a post
by someone who recognizes that all alleged 'spammers' cannot be lumped
into the same stereotypical melting pot.
There are those who send 60 million emails out to Dog-and-everybody,
without regard to suitability to their sensibilities, and there are
those who strive to target their emails toward those who may actually
have an interest in their offerings.

Life itself is a double-edged sword. To compete with the shotgun 
spammers, those who wish to target an audience which is likely to
have a specific interest in their product or cause have need of
a database which will help them to categorize the interests of those
who traverse the WWW. In doing so, they run the risk of being lumped
in with those who use the same technology to monitor the same users
in order to work against their self-interest.

> > > "Who will help me be a self-actualized individual?" said the
> > > New-Age California Little Red Hen.

Nobody. For an extended explaination, read Horatio Alger.

PrecedentMonger II