> Why would an honest person refuse to answer a legitimate question?
> This is so inconceivable to me.
Even though I am among those who do not consider "privacy" to be
an inalienable right on the same par as free speech, there is nonetheless
one very good reason for a decent, honest, person to lie or conceal
information from the government--and that is because they will lock you
up for doing harmless things that are none of their damn business. For
example, in a society with a legitimate freedom-protecting government,
when the police ask what I was doing last night, I can say "Why, I
cleaned my sawed-off shotgun, then watched TV and smoked a joint.",
and they will say "Very good, Sir, sorry to bother you." Ours is not
such a society. Lying in self defense is every bit as moral as using
force in self defense.
Obviously, I would rather live under a government where protecting my
privacy was unnecessary. But until then, I have to assume that their
interests and mine intersect only accidentally.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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