Re: The End of Privacy ?

Randall R Randall (rrandall6@juno.com)
Thu, 2 Jul 1998 22:23:53 -0400

--
On Fri, 03 Jul 1998 09:49:14 +1200 Gerhard Kessell-Haak (Gerhard Kessell-Haak) <gerhard_kessell-haak@mail.tait.co.nz> writes:
>den Otter writes:
>>Oh yes, they *hate* the victims, maybe because they remind
>> them of how the world *really* is.
>
>Are you being sarcastic?

*I* don't think he was...
I dunno where den Otter lives, but here
in the US, that is a prevailing attitude toward victims of crime, especially
among legislators and many police.
After being robbed at gunpoint a few
years ago, I was told by the detectives
on the case the same day that they
felt that *I* had staged the whole thing to make trouble.

>It's an extropian meme in the US perhaps, due to necessity reasons (not
>that I would know - I've never lived in the US). I would argue that it
isn't in
>coutries with more stringent gun laws (and, maybe consequently, lower
>death rates due to violent crime). Looking in from the outside, it
appears
>to me that the US has found itself in a self-induced positive feedback
>condition. Preventing a country or region from entering this worrying
>state appears to be a more rational course of action - though if you're
in
>a country lilke the US you may not have much choice but to choose gun
>ownership.

There is a feedback loop at work, though perhaps not of the sort you imagine. Here is how it works, over a cycle of 5-10 years: Legislators pass new gun control laws in the name of preventing crime; crime increases due to the lesser availability of guns to potential victims; legislators cry over towering crime rates and pass more gun legislation. In general, it seems that if you feel that people are generally more apt to use a gun to defend themselves against crime than to commit it, you favor proliferation of guns. If you feel that people in general are only waiting for firepower to commit as many crimes as they can, you favor gun laws.

--digsig

         Wolfkin.
     5CaaHx/ncmWI7mi94lMRbZ5naWfoiAiWyG37UUfee/P
     L2t+8T5205V/VopubwPNAniS2ofv89M8Wm3JS1iI
     4TDjTMzuShPfjDI60YwckCPFJ7RWqYtF1iU5ruzKX

wolfkin@flatoday.infi.net | ICQ: 3043097 E-Gold Acct: 100678 @ www.e-gold.com
On a visible but distant shore a new image of man, The shape of his own future, now in his own hands.

                                                | Johnny Clegg

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]