Re: The Utility of Privacy

At 06:54 PM 11/18/96 -0500, Black Unicorn wrote:
>> Not long ago, a college education was essentially a death warrant 
>> in Cambodia.  Prior to that, a degree was considered a good thing
>> there.  People saw no reason to hid the fact that they had been
>> in school.  Trouble is, things changed.
>
>Oh, come on.  That could never happen here.

Where have I heard that line before?  Sandy was giving an actual example of
a general problem.  Educated people were executed in Cambodia.  That may
not happen here but it is very common for innocent legal activities or
characteristics to later become very illegal and subject to punishment.

Examples:

Judaism in Germany in 1900 vs 1940
Smoking in America in 1950 vs 1996
Spanking children in Sweden 1950 vs 1996
Owning gold in America in 1930 vs 1933
Publishing and distributing "Discovery of the Orgone" in the 1940s vs the
1950s 

The problem is that you can't always guess in advance which of your
behaviors or characteristics will get you in trouble later.  

The fewer people who know your affairs the less trouble you will be in when
things change.

DCF

"When I was born, smoking was a virtue and sodomy a vice."

On Tue, 19 Nov 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:

> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 06:31:07 -0500
> From: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
> To: Black Unicorn <unicorn@schloss.li>, Sandy Sandfort <sandfort@crl.com>
> Cc: Huge Cajones Remailer <nobody@huge.cajones.com>, cypherpunks@toad.com
> Subject: Re: The Utility of Privacy
> 
> At 06:54 PM 11/18/96 -0500, Black Unicorn wrote:
> >> Not long ago, a college education was essentially a death warrant 
> >> in Cambodia.  Prior to that, a degree was considered a good thing
> >> there.  People saw no reason to hid the fact that they had been
> >> in school.  Trouble is, things changed.
> >
> >Oh, come on.  That could never happen here.
> 
> Where have I heard that line before?  Sandy was giving an actual example of
> a general problem.  Educated people were executed in Cambodia.  That may
> not happen here but it is very common for innocent legal activities or
> characteristics to later become very illegal and subject to punishment.

sar'casm n. [LL sarcasmos < Gr sarkasmos < sarkazein, to tear flesh like
dogs, speak bitterly] 1. a taunting, sneering, cutting or caustic remark;
gife or jeer, generally ironic.


--
Forward complaints to : European Association of Envelope Manufactures
Finger for Public Key   Gutenbergstrasse 21;Postfach;CH-3001;Bern
Vote Monarchist         Switzerland