Possibilities - Letter From Phil 11/90

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LETTER FROM PHIL 11/90
----------------------

*** From November 1990 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1990 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

Letter from Phil
by Phil Becker

"State property is the basis of bureaucratic socialism.  We cannot talk of 
freedom unless we have private property" 

                                     -- Gavriil Popov, Mayor of Moscow

"Our economic system is wrong. The principles of socialist economics are 
wrong. We must translate supply side texts so that we can teach our students.  
'No compromises' is the new slogan" 

                                 -- Larisa Piyasheva, Soviet Economist

"We're emerging from the economy of the Industrial Revolution ... into an era 
where there are no bounds on human imagination, and the freedom to create is 
the most precious natural resource" 

                                 -- Ronald Reagan at Moscow University

"One free mind plus a [PC] workstation can outperform any array of regimented 
minds" 

                                         -- George Gilder in Microcosm

I recently had the fascinating experience of meeting and talking with Dr. 
Sergei M. Alexandrov, President of the Global Dialog Association.  The event 
was a press conference introducing an electronic mail connection from your 
modem directly into Moscow. 

Sergei formerly worked as a high official of the Novosti press service in the 
USSR.  Earlier this year he quit his state job to become president of Global 
Dialog. 

Under communism job security is first, and taking risks for personal reward is 
considered evil.  Thus it is a new experience to think of a market system.  
Taking the risks of starting a business is a very new concept.   Quitting a 
good job to start something new is quite a step. 

Sergei is experiencing being an entrepreneur, and it is a heady experience 
indeed for him.  I saw him overcome with emotion as he was welcomed by those 
he came to sell to.  I watched him revel in seeing how "everybody lives in 
castles" in the Colorado mountains.  Small presents had a meaning to him which 
I can only guess at, but they moved him deeply -- he was near tears as he 
received a dress for his daughter's Barbie doll.  His reaction to being able 
to walk into a gun store and buy any gun he saw was disbelief (but he knew he 
wanted a Walther PPK -- maybe he reads James Bond novels). 

By observing Sergei's reactions -- infectious enthusiasm coupled with a 
disbelief that this was happening to him -- I was able to personally connect 
in a small way with the changes his country is undergoing.  Talk about living 
in interesting times! 

Sergei is convinced that the flow of information is the key to freedom for his 
country.  He is so convinced that he has dedicated himself to forming an 
electronic service to bring computer information into the USSR. 

I suppose it takes occasions like this to remind me of how much we take for 
granted in what we see and do every day.  Many TBBS systems serve to 
distribute information in a way that is very difficult (if not impossible) to 
control and therefore limit.  With this technology one person acting alone can 
create a large information network for less than the price of a new 
automobile. 

It was once thought that computers would be the way that people were 
controlled.  The supercomputer that enslaved the world was the theme of many 
novels and movies.  Most people feared computers as a result. 

Time has shown, however, that the computer has really been one of the most 
liberating devices man has ever invented.  Instead of giving an all powerful 
state or corporation control over the populace, it has given the individual a 
tool that greatly increases personal power.  When computers communicate under 
the distributed control of individuals, true freedom is insured. 

I find myself humbled to be a small part of it all.  My software may allow it 
to happen, but it is you -- who implement and use these information systems -- 
that really make the difference.  The networks you form promote freedom -- and 
it has changed the world. 

- END -
PS1190-1
Rev. 11/90

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