Krispin Preaches Revolution!

Kent Crispin wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 28, 1997 at 06:17:09PM -0500, snow wrote:
> >       Well, the current system stinks, but enough people are buffalo'd into
> > thinking that it works, so it is doubtful that it will get better.
 
> People are not "buffalo'd" -- they are happy with a system that gives
> them a good life.  Therefore, it has to get worse before it gets
> better.

  I am happy that Kent has finally realized the need to Monkey Wrench
the "system" to the point where enough citizens get off of their too-
comfortable asses and address the issues which are leading to an
increasing number of their fellow citizens being persecuted and fucked
over by the government.

"Then they came for the fat-asses, and I was a fat-ass, but nobody 
spoke up."
        -Roseanne

"If you want to keep people from claiming they're Jesus, you have to
break a few eggs."
        -Janet Reno/Pontius Pilate

  Now that Kent has realized, like McVeigh, that "it has to get worse 
before it gets better," perhaps he is ready to break the Big Egg.
  I'll be more than happy to chip in to fill Kent's private plane with
fuel, and Peter Trei is at the airport, right now, stripping the
identifying numbers off of Kent's aircraft. (Ever since he started
forging posts to the list, Peter's gotten really radical.)

TruthMonger
{Now that we've got Peter Trei forging posts and Kent Crispin is ready
 to nuke D.C., how long can it be before we convince Blanc to bomb a
 daycare center?}

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At 09:39 AM 8/29/97 -0700, Kent Crispin wrote:
>I have known since I was a grasshopper that people trying to effect
>change have a vested interest in making current reality look bad. 
>People entrenched in the power structure, on the other hand, have a
>vested interest in making current reality look good.  
>
>When change doesn't happen, or especially when it goes in a direction
>undesired by the revolutionaries, but liked by the citizens, the
>effort to make current reality look bad intensifies.  When change
>irrevocably passes to an unwanted state, and the revolutionaries
>"lose", a residue of Bitter Old Revolutionary Extremists (BOREs)
>results.  These toothless old tigers, clinging to their youthful
>dreams, rage at a reality that passed them by.  Snarling and
>perpetually misunderstood, they wither and waste away, Cheshire cat
>evil grimace postcripts to history. 

Course the analysis fails when faced with those who think things are good and 
getting better in revolutionary ways disliked by the "powers that be".

None of us have had time to become Bitter Old Revolutionary Extremists yet.  
Tim and I am members of the same birth cohort.  He tends towards depression 
and I tend towards optimism but both of us have seen quite a few changes over 
the years and neither of us are in the position of the American Marxists of 
the 1930s or 1960s New Left radicals who saw their dreams die.

Market liberalism is ascendant.  And it is still in its early period of 
ascendancy.  The Economist observed earlier this year that "We are all 
liberals now".  Pointing out that illiberal philosophies had shuffled off the 
world stage.

Note that "socialism" started circa 1850, rose steadily until the middle of 
this century, and then crashed and burned.  "Red Tony" in the UK is showing 
himself to be slightly to the right of John Boy Major as the students, 
aliens, and pro-inflationists of the UK have recently discovered.

Market Earth continues to take names and kick ass worldwide.  I felt much 
more depressed about the possibilities of a society built on voluntary 
interaction 30, 20, or 10 years ago than I do now.

The fact is that change is continuing and accelerating because people have 
the means to change their own lives.  Since "revolution" which originates 
from the independent and unled actions of millions of people cannot easily be 
suppressed, traditional political analysis fails.

Conquering an "anarchy" is hard enough because of the lack of anyone to 
surrender.  Conquering an "anarchy" that is springing up all around you at 
the "speed of business" or in "net time" is even harder.  The only tactical 
option that would work for our rulers in the current political situation is 
to "nuke us back to the stone age" so that they could regain their 
traditional force ratios.

If the people are not deprived of the wealth and physical powers that they 
now possess (at least in the OECD countries), they are no longer controlled 
in a real sense.  Nominal controls exist but they are weak and ineffective.  
If you doubt this, ask any cop.

DCF

Needed:  A lion untamer.  The cage has been removed but the lion continues to 
pace back and forth over his old ground out of habit.  We need a lion untamer 
who can convince the lion that he's no longer in a cage.





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On Fri, Aug 29, 1997 at 11:19:32AM -0400, Anonymous wrote:
> Kent Crispin wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 28, 1997 at 06:17:09PM -0500, snow wrote:
> > >       Well, the current system stinks, but enough people are buffalo'd into
> > > thinking that it works, so it is doubtful that it will get better.
>  
> > People are not "buffalo'd" -- they are happy with a system that gives
> > them a good life.  Therefore, it has to get worse before it gets
> > better.
> 
>   I am happy that Kent has finally realized the need to Monkey Wrench
> the "system" to the point where enough citizens get off of their too-
> comfortable asses and address the issues which are leading to an
> increasing number of their fellow citizens being persecuted and fucked
> over by the government.

I have known since I was a grasshopper that people trying to effect
change have a vested interest in making current reality look bad. 
People entrenched in the power structure, on the other hand, have a
vested interest in making current reality look good.  

This is an interesting competition for observers, bystanders, and
citizens.  If the power structure is flexible, and incorporates
changes that are viewed favorably by the citizens, then the power 
structure "wins".  But so do the citizens.

When change doesn't happen, or especially when it goes in a direction
undesired by the revolutionaries, but liked by the citizens, the
effort to make current reality look bad intensifies.  When change
irrevocably passes to an unwanted state, and the revolutionaries
"lose", a residue of Bitter Old Revolutionary Extremists (BOREs)
results.  These toothless old tigers, clinging to their youthful
dreams, rage at a reality that passed them by.  Snarling and
perpetually misunderstood, they wither and waste away, Cheshire cat
evil grimace postcripts to history. 

> {Now that we've got Peter Trei forging posts and Kent Crispin is ready
>  to nuke D.C., how long can it be before we convince Blanc to bomb a
>  daycare center?}

I can't speak for Peter or Blanc.  I have no desire to nuke anyone.

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html

At 8:37 AM -0700 9/4/97, Duncan Frissell wrote:

>None of us have had time to become Bitter Old Revolutionary Extremists yet.
>Tim and I am members of the same birth cohort.  He tends towards depression
>and I tend towards optimism but both of us have seen quite a few changes over

I prefer the term "pessimism" to "depression." The opposite of optimistic
is pessimistic, not depressed, which has a clinical sound to it.


>Conquering an "anarchy" is hard enough because of the lack of anyone to
>surrender.  Conquering an "anarchy" that is springing up all around you at
>the "speed of business" or in "net time" is even harder.  The only tactical
>option that would work for our rulers in the current political situation is
>to "nuke us back to the stone age" so that they could regain their
>traditional force ratios.

And this is what I think they may try: a global crackdown to try to stamp
out the wildfire of anarchocapitalism before it spreads beyond any hope of
control.

Our opponents understand full well the power of strong crypto and
unassailable privacy to facillitate this kind of anarchy and this kind of
voluntary, self-selected, virtual communities.

They understand, we understand, and even some in the media understand. The
politicians don't, for the most part.

Louis Freeh is no dummy. He understands the power struggle. But he has to
speak babytalk to Feinswine and Kyl to let them glimpse what the issues are.

--Tim May


There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  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."