[clue] Cory Doctorow - war on general computing [talk]
David L. Willson
DLWillson at TheGeek.NU
Mon Jan 2 17:33:57 MST 2012
This is to say NOTHING of the poor unfortunates on whom the legal system "works" too well. The advent of DNA evidence has set how many men free?
It's broken, very much like copy protection. It inconveniences those that have faith in it, but the "villains" for whom it's designed, those with less honor or training, instead see great opportunities to become rich and powerful selling illegal goods and services, or trading votes for favors.
----- Original Message -----
> Let us suppose that my honor has failed to prevent me from doing the
> things you list below: raping, pillaging, robbing, and speeding. I
> know people that define those words in ways that would have me
> guilty of every one.
>
> Well, the law we have invested in, has failed to stop me... But...
> The time and money we spent on the creation of the law and on the
> police with which you intended to find the opportunity to get the
> reprisal you mentioned, is still gone. So, we're both poorer because
> we're funding the litigation, legislation, and enforcement systems,
> but... They don't seem to be working.
>
> The only "reprisal" was that of my own conscience, with which I have
> trained my honor. Today, my honor stops me from doing many things,
> and it drives me to do others. It has always been so.
>
> It seems that law and reprisal are not as relevant as self-rule, at
> least in my case, and for all I can tell, in many, many other cases,
> too.
>
> I wonder what the world would be like if we discarded ineffective
> laws and spent our time, talent, and treasure training men to
> improve themselves, instead.
>
> David L. Willson
> Trainer, Engineer, Enthusiast
> RHCE MCT MCSE Network+ A+ Linux+ LPIC-1 NovellCLA UbuntuCP
> tel://720.333.LANS
> Freedom is better when you earn it. Learn Linux.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > >I believe our faith in the law, in enforcing the will of some on
> > >others, has cost us dearly in terms of freedom, and has caused us
> > >to
> > >participate in many things that can only be called atrocities.
> >
> > Of course the law enforces the will of some on others. If it
> > didn't,
> > then we would not need the law.
> >
> > I could rape and pillage without fear of reprisals. Honor?
> > Something
> > for Wharf, a fictitious Klingon.
> >
> > The potential robber has the will of the potential victim forced on
> > them
> > by law. The potential speeder has the will of the community forced
> > on
> > them by law.
> >
> > The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, whether it be the
> > federal constitution or the state constitution. Hopefully they are
> > written by "honorable" people, and the concepts in them drive more
> > laws.
> > Laws that go against those concepts tend to be struck down over
> > time.
> >
> > The litigator and the legislator are NOT our guardians!
> > There's
> > no profit for them in truly protecting us! In order to
> > remain
> > fed, they have to keep us at one another's throats, and
> > believing that nobody actually cares about his fellow.
> >
> > Well, THAT does not sound very honorable!
> >
> > They are the devils of our world, feeding on our hate, our
> > distrust, and our fear. They bankrupt us, and gain power
> > over
> > us, because we refuse to believe in one another's goodness
> > more
> > deeply than we believe in force, and because we refuse to
> > forgive or re-interpret any percieved injustice. We are too
> > ready to believe that the other fellow is a villain, and it
> > makes us fodder for the cannons.
> >
> > Tell me how you really feel about them....but didn't you just say
> > that
> > these litigators and legislators ARE devils and villains? In
> > effect,
> > they have no honor?
> >
> > To paraphrase something I read a long time ago in "A Man For All
> > Seasons" about Sir Thomas Moore, I want laws written down so I have
> > something to hide behind when the devil turns to come after me.
> >
> > For those of you who are afraid this will go on all night....I go
> > back
> > to listening to more Cory Doctorow.
> >
> > Warmest regards,
> >
> > md
> >
> > P.S.:
> >
> > >and use Microsoft or Apple products
> >
> > See? No honor.
> >
> > On Mon, 2012-01-02 at 15:58 -0700, David L. Willson wrote:
> > > New Year's Day seems like a good day to pontificate, and the
> > > thread
> > > is appropriately labeled, and nobody's asked me to STFU, so I'll
> > > have another go.
> > >
> > > It seems to me like we've endorsed many sorts of laws and granted
> > > many sorts of powers to our rulers that have nothing to do with
> > > protecting one person from another. Laws and powers that, rather
> > > than protecting us from one another, allow us to pillage one
> > > another, starve one another, limit one another's autonomy, murder
> > > one another in fact, and preserve privilege for some, while
> > > utterly failing to protect others.
> > >
> > > I believe our faith in the law, in enforcing the will of some on
> > > others, has cost us dearly in terms of freedom, and has caused us
> > > to participate in many things that can only be called atrocities.
> > >
> > > Because we keep voting totalitarian. Because we keep deciding who
> > > should do what to our neighbors and with which weapon. Because
> > > one
> > > distrusts the other, is unwilling to forgive his faulty behavior,
> > > and believes, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary, that
> > > suing him, bombing him, or legislating against him, will help the
> > > situation.
> > >
> > > The litigator and the legislator are NOT our guardians! There's
> > > no
> > > profit for them in truly protecting us! In order to remain fed,
> > > they have to keep us at one another's throats, and believing that
> > > nobody actually cares about his fellow. They are the devils of
> > > our
> > > world, feeding on our hate, our distrust, and our fear. They
> > > bankrupt us, and gain power over us, because we refuse to believe
> > > in one another's goodness more deeply than we believe in force,
> > > and because we refuse to forgive or re-interpret any percieved
> > > injustice. We are too ready to believe that the other fellow is a
> > > villain, and it makes us fodder for the cannons.
> > >
> > > I'd rather tolerate you socking me in the eye one day, and try to
> > > figure out why that happened with you or with you and some others
> > > we both respect, than create a law that says you mayn't, because
> > > I
> > > believe in you, and I believe that you and I, or you and I and
> > > our
> > > respected friends, can work it out better than you and I and the
> > > magistrate, or you and I and the governor, or you and I and our
> > > weapons. I don't believe you are a bad fellow. In fact, I believe
> > > you're doing the best you can with what you have, and further, I
> > > have made a commitment that nothing you can do will make me think
> > > otherwise about you. I'll live and die protecting your freedom to
> > > choose, even if you choose to sock me in the eye, say bad things
> > > about my lineage, and use Microsoft or Apple products. I believe
> > > that things between us can only get better, if we agree to make
> > > them better, freely.
> > >
> > > David L. Willson
> > > Trainer, Engineer, Enthusiast
> > > RHCE MCT MCSE Network+ A+ Linux+ LPIC-1 NovellCLA UbuntuCP
> > > tel://720.333.LANS
> > > Freedom is better when you earn it. Learn Linux.
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > I have some. You have some. Every man I know well enough to say
> > > > with
> > > > confidence whether or not he has some, has some.
> > > >
> > > > I infer from that, not without some trepidation, that every man
> > > > has
> > > > some.
> > > >
> > > > I make an intuitive leap that honor has the same property that
> > > > faith
> > > > does. Even a very small amount, regularly exercised, can do
> > > > great
> > > > things.
> > > >
> > > > David L. Willson
> > > > Trainer, Engineer, Enthusiast
> > > > RHCE MCT MCSE Network+ A+ Linux+ LPIC-1 NovellCLA UbuntuCP
> > > > tel://720.333.LANS
> > > > Freedom is better when you earn it. Learn Linux.
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > >
> > > > > > Men, freely associated and joined by agreements that are as
> > > > > > binding
> > > > > > as their own sense of honor,
> > > > >
> > > > > There be the rub...where is the honor?
> > > > >
> > > > > md
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > --
> > Jon "maddog" Hall
> > Executive Director Linux International(R)
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> >
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