Re: Transparency Rant (was Re: Enoughness, was Re: Vicious Racism)

From: KPJ (kpj@sics.se)
Date: Thu Aug 16 2001 - 05:58:16 MDT


It appears as if Barbara Lamar <altamiratexas@earthlink.net> wrote:
|
| KPJ wrote:
|
|> I have, since I read John Brunner's "The Shockwave Rider" (ISBN
|> 0-345-32431-5)
|> made sure that my data shadow does not look like me:
|
|Some of the things you list, such as not having bank accounts or credit
|cards, not using ID cards, are inconvenient.

I found it inconvenient in the beginning, too, but one learns with time to
care more about one's freedom than one's convenience.

|The only reason I can think of not to allow oneself into various databases
|is that one might someday need to hide from someone who has access to such
|databases. But maybe there are other reasons I'm missing.

My reason is a very simple one: I don't like to live in a prison.

|If one wishes to maintain a degree of anonymity to leave open the option of
|hiding, it would seem to make more sense to develop one or more alternative
|identities one could step into if the need should arise. Refusing to produce
|ID cards, insisting on using cash for large purchases and so forth draw
|attention to a person rather than protecting their anonymity.

If I did that, I certainly would not make it public in a public medium as
the Extropians Mailing List.

|People I've known who've experienced life under conditions of political
|instability say it's wise to have passports from at least two nation-states.

I have found political stability to be as much a pain, myself.



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