| Neal Goldsmith on Sun, 10 Nov 2002 17:40:06 +0100 (CET) |
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| [Nettime-bold] RE: <nlc> Yup, I Told You So --> www.darpa.mil/iao/ |
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Mark, When I was a lad, we were taught, in "social studies" class,
the following mantra as the core of American philosophy of government: "I'd rather let 1,000 guilty men go
free, than unjustly imprison one innocent man.” This was always explained in terms of
the fragility of the Bill of Rights, the concept of the “slippery slope”
and the difficult, but essential obligation to view the long-term implications,
rather than acting on short term benefits.
A similar statement (to mangle It used to be the “obvious” threat to the American Way of Life
from minorities and immigrants, then the scourge of drug dealers (remember
civil forfeiture?), now it’s the threat of terrorists that can be used as
an excuse to be expedient, rather than stand on our founding principles (and of
course, expediency can be VERY profitable for those who unduly influence
government with campaign financing).
As a sign of how far we’ve descended from our ideals, the mantra
now becomes, “We’d rather abridge the civil liberties of 1,000
people, than let one guilty person go free.” Wheeeeee, enjoy that slippery
slope while it lasts, because it descends into the “perfect” citizen
information system, dictatorship, and ultimately, yes, to “Borgification.” Neal Goldsmith -----Original Message----- Y'all: Go to www.nytimes.com and search for John Markoff's story today on
"Pentagon Plans" (check out www.darpa.mil/iao) and then go read my
"Op-Ed" on the topic at www.siliconalley.com. Okay, it's true, I told you so . . . Mark Stahlman New York City |