>
>
> From: "Kristin A. Ruhle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > first look on www.bayarea.com for the most recent by local (San
> > Jose) technology columnist Dan Gillmor. He talks about how liberty (as he
> > defines it) is being undermined in the UK by things like public
> > surveillance cameras (having read The Transparent Society, I can't say I
> > am agains this) andthe RIP law (which I think does go too far.)
>
> That depends how the judges interpret it, within the confines
> of the human rights act.
>
> > I think he
> > believes it is a slippery slopee and that the British are selling their
> > freedom for what Gillmor says is temporary security. So are people in the
> > UK selling themselves into a kind of serfdom? From the US perspective (if
> > Gillmor speaks for most Americans, and I think he does) this is so. Do we
> > have ANYONE from the UK on this list anymore? I think people in both
> > countries should read his column.
> >
> I'm English.
>
> I'd say the current government is too likely to give itself
> excessive powers, but that Gillmor is overstating the case.
>
Hmm.
I think the fundamental cultural difference between the US and the UK is
that Americans have an extreme allergy to government. Oh - if you've read
the Gillmor piece - pass it on (do they have "email this to a
friend? feature?) or tell your UK friends because I think he should get
feedback from English people. Do they really think the British are
becoming like th Chinese or something, inured to repressive laws? is
there a danger of that? Do they think safety overrides freedom?
I don't like the idea of the "neo West" (to use DB's term) being split
into the US versus everybody else - I don't think AMerica is the only
society in the world that values freedom, but we sometimes take it to
extremes. And should the police be prevented from doing their job because
(as some justices interpret the US constitution) "that technology didin't
exist in the 18th century so it must be wrong?" (the
"originalist" argument - by which you would have to abolish gun contol but
only let people own flintlock muskets of 200 plus year old design.)
Kristin
(The tv-show concept "Big Brother" didn't work here, but I gather it is a
craze in England.)
