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To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (51632)	5/22/2000 12:57:00 PM
From: Mike M	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

In addition, the ability to make weapons of mass destruction (nuclear/biological/etc.) is going to spread from governments of big countries, to small ones, and then to sub-groups within countries. This is a good thing. It will make the suppression (or genocide) of unwanted peoples impossible. Wow. You have an awful lot of faith in the sub-groups to make that leap...I appreciate the search for a pony in this dung heap but beg to differ with the interpretation. I see no positive spin to be made from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (51632)	5/22/2000 1:00:00 PM
From: willcousa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

If what you say is true how does the current administration manage to get away with its' crimes? Shouldn't the US be one of the first beneficiaries of this new communication?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (51632)	5/22/2000 1:54:00 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

OT: << In addition, the ability to make weapons of mass destruction (nuclear/biological/etc.) is going to spread from governments of big countries, to small ones, and then to sub-groups within countries. This is a good thing. It will make the suppression (or genocide) of unwanted peoples impossible. >> You're kidding, right? So you end up with 10-1000 more groups possessing nukes and NOBODY EVER uses them????? I think you seriously underestimate the hate your fellow humans are capable of. There are people who will willingly slaughter those they despise and hate even knowing it will result in their own deaths. And our current administration has launched a major drive to eliminate all potential competition in arms in this country. Consisering that they want to deprive everyone of .22 caliber pistols, you think they's let people possess NUKES?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (51632)	5/22/2000 2:17:00 PM
From: westes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

I think the flaw in your reasoning is that you assume that small groups will employ the same mutually assured destruction reasoning that large governments have employed. That clearly isn't the case, as many disempowered groups feel that their cause is already lost, and they would be more than happy to take out their enemy in one valiant gesture to God. There is equally serious flaw in your reasoning because fundamentally large organizations and small organizations organize power in different ways. The whole thrust of democracy is to disempower individual leaders. Humans are fundamentally flawed and make bad decisions at times. By making it hard for individuals to act outside of a long and arduous decision making process, in the confines of a group decision, it is very hard for a rogue leader in the US, Russia, or China, to launch nukes. Nay, it is nearly impossible for there to be an intentional attack because of the layers of checks and balances. In small organizations, a single leader often has complete control and decision making authority. Therefore, it only takes one madman, or one person who makes a bad decision on a given day, to kill millions of people. That's not a good thing for anyone. Proliferation should be fought at every step. I cannot find any good consequence to empowering a world of individuals with such evil weapons.