16.12.1. "What if "bad guys" use unbreakable crypto?"
- What if potential criminals are allowed to have locks on
their doors? What if potential rapists can buy pornography?
What if....
- These are all straw men used in varous forms throughout
history by tyrants to control their populations. The
"sheepocracies" of the modern so-called democratic era are
voting away their former freedoms in favor of cradle to
grave safety and security.
- The latest tack is to propose limits on privacy to help
catch criminals, pedophile, terrorists, and father rapers.
God help us if this comes to pass. But Cypherpunks don't
wait for God, they write code!
16.12.2. Dealing with the "Abhorrent Markets"
- such as markets for assassinations and extortion
+ Possibilities:
+ physical protection, physical capure
- make it risky
- (on the other hand, sniping is easy)
+ "flooding" of offers
- "take a number" (meaning: get in line)
- attacking reputations
- I agree that more thought is needed, more thorough analysis
- Some people have even pointed out the benefits of killing
off tens of thousands of the corrupt politicians, narcs,
and cops which have implemented fascist, collectivist
policies for so long. Assassination markets may make this
much more practical.
16.12.3. "How is *fraud* dealt with in crypto anarchy?"
- When the perpetrators can't even be identified.
- One of the most interesting problems.
- First, reputations matter. Repeat business is not assured.
It is always best to not have too much at stake in any
single transaction.
16.12.4. "How do we know that crypto anarchy will work? How do we know
that it won't plunge the world into barbarism, nuclear war,
and terror?"
- We don't know, of course. We never can.
- However, things are already pretty bad. Look at Bosnia,
Ruanda, and a hundred other hellholes and flashpoints
around the world. Look at the nuclear arsenals of the
superpowers, and look at who starts the wars. In nearly all
cases, statism is to blame. States have killed a hundred
million or more people in this century alone--think of
Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot--through forced starvation
of entire provinces, liquidation of the peasantry, killing
of intellectuals, and mass exterminations of religious and
ethnic groups. It's hard to imagine crypto anarchy causing
anything that bad!
- Crypto anarchy is a cyberspatially-mediated personal course
of action; by itself it involves no actions such as
terrorism or nuclear blackmail. One could just as easily
ask, "Will freedom lead to nuclear blackmail, weapons
trading, and pedophilia?" The answer is the same: maybe,
but so what?
16.12.5. It is true that crypto anarchy is not for everyone. Some will
be too incompetent to prepare to protect themselves, and will
want a protector. Others will have poor business sense.
16.12.6. "But what will happen to the poor people and those on welfare
if crypto anarchy really succeeds?"
- "So?"
- Many of us would see this as a good thing. Not just for
Calvinist-Randite reasons, but also because it would break
the cycle of dependency which has actually made things
worse for the underclass in America (at least). See Charles
Murray's "Losing Ground" for more on this.
- And remember that a collapse of the tax system will mean
more money left in the hands of former taxpayers, and hence
more left over for true charity (for those who truly cannot
help themselves).
By Tim May, see README
HTML by Jonathan Rochkind