clipper related -- Support from Robert Bork.. Letter to John Barlow

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 21:45:04 -0500
From: John Perry Barlow <barlow () eff org>


Folks,


I haven't been passing on the huge pile of messages I've been getting in
support of the Clipper piece, knowing how much e-mail you are wrestling
with. But here's one I couldn't resist forwarding.


Weird times, eh?


> Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 16:18:59 EST
> From: Robert Bork <borkr () FRB GOV>
> To: barlow () eff org
> Subject: Clipper
>
>          Mr. Barlow:
>
>                I'm writing to express my agreement with you
>          concerning the dangerous, and in fact, tyrannous nature of
>          the Clipper chip.  However, I find your reasoning
>          anachronistic - more typical of Cold War rhetoric than the
>          new "paradigm" we find ourselves in now.  In particular,
>          I find it fascinating that many people, like yourself, are
>          now beginning to see Liberalism for what it really is - an
>          effort to cram government down our throats in order to
>          protect us from ourselves.  Thus the arrogant "if you knew
>          what I know" attitude you mention in your article.
>
>          And simultaneously, those of you who were most hostile to
>          conservatism are belatedly understanding what it is about -
>          the virtue of LIMITED GOVERNMENT and INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY.
>
>          It seems, since the end of the Cold War, that new
>          "battle-lines" have been drawn, and that you have discovered
>          that those who you considered enemies are now in your camp,
>          and that several old friends are now opponents.
>
>          Even now, you refuse to recognize the logical conclusion of
>          Liberalism - government dominance of all facets of life,
>          eclipsing individual rights.  Instead, you remarkably tell
>          yourself that BILL & AL are being hoodwinked by "spooks" in
>          the NSA, but that they are really on your side.  I have
>          news for you, they are not.
>
>          After all, who is most likely to agree with you?  Reagan,
>          who says that "government is the problem" or Bill & AL who
>          believe that government is the answer to all our problems -
>          from the health care "crisis" to the dangers of vitamins.
>          Clearly you can see now who is the champion of individual
>          rights and who is the champion of bureaucracies that
>          claim to know what we don't.
>
>          I invite you to the real new paradigm, in which old concepts
>          of liberal and conservative are increasingly meaningless.
>          It is a new world in which I - a conservative - find common
>          cause with you - a liberal - in our fight for individual
>          freedom.  It is really debilitating and self-deceptive to
>          cling to the old definitions.
>
>          I offer this in the spirit of cooperation, since I believe
>          that if we hope to win the war, we should at least know who
>          we are fighting!
>
>                                         Sincerely,
>
>                                         Robert J. Bork