Schneier vs. Brin

[Dave Land]

On Mar 8, 2008, at 2:33 PM, jon louis mann wrote:

> Nevertheless, I like the idea of being able to listen in on
> high government officials planning ways to subvert the constitution.

Well, the guys who _wrote_ the constitution did so in secret.

Yes, they published the Federalist Papers, a PR effort to generate
support for their effort, but it could scarcely be called a
transparent process.

Of course, Don't let this make you think that I am disappointed with the
result: what this bunch of white, mostly slave-holding-friendly men
cooked up in private that summer of 1787 has survived various insults
and injuries by presidents as varied as Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt
and (so far) G. W. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper" Bush. I was
with those at the Aspen Institute recently who felt that it was likely
to survive this latest onslaught, too.

There are times when transparency is best, and there are times when
complete opacity is necessary, for a time. The trick is to know which
is appropriate when.

Planning an invasion of another country (let's assume, for a moment,
that it is being done for the "right" reasons) should definitely _not_
be done with transparency, at least not in anything like real time, if
it is to be successful and to protect the safety of those executing the
invasion.

Then again, deciding whether a certain shabby stretch of Story Road in
East San Jose should be designated "Little Saigon" or "The Saigon
Business District" is something that definitely should have be done in
public. It might have saved the city months hard feelings, and may even
save the life of Ly Tong, the protester who has been on a hunger strike
over the issue for 23 days.*

Dave

* Yes, really: This guy is betting his life that he can convince the
   City of San Jose to name a crappy stretch of strip malls "Little
   Saigon". He stopped drinking water a couple of days ago, after the
   city removed the designation "Saigon Business District", and says
   that if he dies, it'll be on the head of Mayor Chuck Reed.

   The whole thing is making a neighborhood uncomfortably close to mine
   look incredibly stupid, in addition to being decidedly shoddy.