1996-02-13
Craig A. Johnson
Mark Stahlman wrote this piece as an initial response to John Perry
Barlow's "One Man's Declaration of Independence in Cyberspace" posted
here on 2/10.
Yesterday's "cr> Stahlman on J.P. Barlow" was a clarification of the
context of this earlier piece, as a result of a request put to Mark
by several list moderators, including this one.
So, we have two responses to Barlow by Mark Stahlman. Anyone else
want to jump in?
--caj
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Date: Fri, 9 Feb 1996 12:46:58 -0800
From: Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail) <•••@••.•••>
Subject: BCC: Enemies of Liberty
Folks:
I hate to say I told you so, but . . . Barlow's back in his brand new
Alvin Toffler halloween outfit. Scary? Dangerous? Perverse? All of
the above?
Check out the Barlow essay at the top of Smolan's 24 Hours site --
"One Man's Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace." (URL:
http//www4.24cyber.com/essay/frontiers_essay.html) It's a real
killer.
Killer to the sovereignty of nation-states and the capability of
nations to defend themselves against oligarchs. Killer to the
capability to grow a national economy and enrich its citizens. Killer
to liberty and killer to human hope.
By declaring cyberspace independent from sovereign nations, Barlow is
placing another brick in the wall of the one-world prison (the modern
Panopticon) now being constructed around us. By declaring cyberspace
to be immaterial, Barlow is feeding the anti-growth,
matter-doesn't-matter ideology that was created to justify mass
slaughter. By declaring cyberspace "the new home of Mind", Barlow is
promoting and participating in the attempts to use the Net as the
latest and most powerful in a string of MK-ULTRA mind-control
technologies.
Barlow is completely dishonest about the reality in which cyberspace
is imbedded. Coercion is a very real threat and an ever increasing
danger, as is starvation, poverty and degradation -- the true legacy
of post-industrial society. The surveillance state -- for whom Barlow
works -- is only getting stronger. And, misusing the fury of the Net
about attacks on the First Amendment to the Constitution as a weapon
to destroy that Constitution itself (yup, the Toffler/Barlow plan is a
form of "one world government") is the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
>>From consulting to the NSA to taking personal responsibility for
releasing the FBI/EFF Wiretap Bill, Barlow has demonstrated his
priorities and his allegiances over and over. He is a spokesman for
the "Brainlords" -- the neologism created by Gingrich's PFF
think-tanker Vlahos to describe the 5% of the population who will be
in charge in the terrifying new feudalism of his "ByteCity." Like
Toffler and Vlahos standing behind him, Barlow is a committed enemy of
liberty. He does not and cannot speak for the Net.
Mark Stahlman
New Media Associates
New York City
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