> I was tired of hearing the raving randian bastards on this list label
> everybody who disagreed with the slightest scintilla of their pet
> dogmas as evil vermin who should be exterminated for the greater good,...
Legislation is violence. No matter how much one pretends that this isn't true, the fact won't go away. Those who propose and pass laws are enabling armed police to forcibly detain and imprison people who violate them, even if they do so peacefully. Sometimes civilized discourse is not sufficient to point out just how evil some of these actions really are.
If you advocate legislation, be prepared to back up your opinions with your blood. You are morally responsible for the violence used to enforce those laws, and a legitimate target for those who fight them. I am prepared to take moral responsibility for laws against violence and theft; if history proves me wrong, I accept the consequences. I am not willing to accept such responsibility for laws against peaceful use of technology--be it drugs, money, or guns--or laws granting "property" status to ideas, and many other laws that some people favor. I may be wrong, and I'm willing to entertain discussions on the matter peacefully. But when a bill is signed into law, the line between discussion and force has been crossed, and I cannot be silent. No matter how loudly I may "rave", it is still peaceful discourse compared to the violence of law.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "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