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RE: Does Freedom Require Radical Transparency or Radical Privacy?
"You see the same thing that enables the sex worker also enables all of these bad things. "
Yes, that is the nature of useful tools. A gun that can defend a woman from a rapist can also be used to rob a bank. A fire that can prevent you from freezing to death can also burn your house down. And a private currency that allows a sex worker to run her business unmolested, will also allow a ransomware thief to spend their stolen goods.
The fact that they can be used for ill purposes doesn't mean we should refuse to use guns, fire, and private currencies though.
both transparency and secrecy could be used to take away the lever someone might use to harm you. Both can be useful tools, no? And transparency is the lower energy and thus easier of the two states to be in, so the route of transparency might be more often favorable.
I'm all for forcing governments to be completely transparent. Transparency is fine if you're a strong player.
However, I think that secrecy and privacy are one of the few ways that weak players can defend themselves against overwhelmingly stronger attackers.
There are many successful examples - The Underground Railroad
I'm with you on that thinking
I don't think you can have transparent governments while also allowing privacy for the individual. It's run by the individuals after all. They will use privacy tools for individuals to stay corrupt.
We don't need to know Trump's sexual fetishes or his taste in music to be able to see his dealings with Russia. If we can legislate transparent governmental activity while allowing optional privacy for individuals, we can bypass this supposedly blurry line.