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Sarah stated for the record:
On 6/11/06, Sean Barrett <sean(a)epoptic.com>
wrote:
Oh, I know what you mean. I also find that
principles can be extremely
annoying. Life is so much easier if one ignores them when they get
inconvenient.
It's not that principles should be ignored. It's that they need to be
formulated and prioritized carefully. If the British government had
stuck to the principle "never negotiate with terrorists," the
Provisional IRA would still be blowing people up, but it was decided
instead that the principle of saving lives was more important, and the
gamble paid off.
Sean, if someone points a gun at your head and asks for your wallet,
you don't think: "If I give in, they'll just move on and do this to
someone else." No, you hand over your wallet, because you value your
life.
Sarah
Sarah, when someone pointed a gun at my head, what I thought was "if I
give in, he'll just do it to my wife and daughter." No, I did not hand
over my wallet, because I value their lives.
If we give in to Brandt's extortion, we are actively worsening the
danger to everyone on this site, because we will have demonstrated what
it takes to control us. The next guy (and there will be one and more
than one) will do his own research and make his own demands. Why
shouldn't he? It works! Then one of the many times that personal data
are published, someone is going to act on that data. Brandt is not the
only evil person in the world.
What you assumed was a "slippery slope" hypothetical was nothing of the
kind. There are those who think Wikipedia should not exist. Delete
Brandt's article, and within days we will receive the demand "shut down
completely or I will publish your personal data."
- --
Sean Barrett | Yes, I am the last man to have walked on the
sean(a)epoptic.com | moon, and that's a very dubious and disappointing
| honor. It's been far too long. --Gene Cernan
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