Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!ames!uhccux!munnari.oz.au!ditmela!smart From: smart@ditmela.oz (Robert Smart) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: trash message from usenet (BIFF) Message-ID: <11771@ditmela.oz> Date: 4 Jun 90 10:24:16 GMT References: <23824@bellcore.bellcore.com> <9006032123.AA24213@world.std.com> Reply-To: smart@ditmela.oz.au (Robert Smart) Organization: CSIRO, Division of Information Technology, Australia Lines: 20 Somebody should get the political scientists on to the network news and the Internet. They are very interesting and succesful examples of a form of political organization whose name is quite discredited in the world today, namely anarchy. If you are interested in the concept of anarchy in a wider context you should read "The Dispossessed" by Ursula Le Guin. It is a convincing description of what an anarchy would be like. Not a picnic, that's for sure. You will have no trouble recognizing the equivalents of people from our network world, from the idealists who work hard with little thanks for the common good to the idiots who take advantage of the anarchy's freedom and don't contribute. It is easy to see the glaring weaknesses of an anarchic arrangement. Little incidents show this. But let's not give it away when nothing serious has happened. The successes far outweigh the problems, and it isn't at all clear that a more structured or controlled environment would be so successful. Bob Smart