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Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by paulddraper on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @03:00PM (#16757804)
At first thought, it seems 100% absurd that an ad-hoc underpowered group of people with small arms counts for anything in the modern age.

But history shows otherwise: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.

Empirically, every totalitarian state bans citizen firearms (Nazi Germany, USSR, Cuba, N. Korea). For "good" reason.

While of course different, crypto has many of the same pros and cons as firearms, and it should be supported for the same reasons.

https://xkcd.com/504/

Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by samastur on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @05:11PM (#16759143)
Every example of yours had plenty of external help without which I am doubtful they would have as much success.

No idea what your definition of totalitarian state is, but there certainly was not a complete ban on firearms neither in Nazi Germany nor in many of post WW2 socialist countries (e.g. hunters).

Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by paulddraper on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @09:48PM (#16761099)
> there certainly was not a complete ban on firearms neither in Nazi Germany

It actually started post-WWI (due to Treaty of Versailles).

> In 1919 the German government passed the Regulations on Weapons Ownership...anyone found in possession of a firearm or ammunition was subject to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 marks. [1]

Laws were later relaxed from a total ban, though ownership was low, as all guns and ammo had been confiscated earlier. And Jews and companies with at least some Jewish ownership were forbidden to own any firearms or participate in their manufacture.

When oppressing a group, either selectively or indiscriminately, guns + speech for that group must go.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_legislation_in_Germany#Reg...

Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by samastur on Thursday April 05, 2018 @03:01AM (#16762513)
Germany in 1919 was definitely not a totalitarian state. The laws were relaxed in 1928 which was BEFORE nazis came to power.
Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by Clubber on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @03:20PM (#16757990)
Don't forget the Revolutionary war, when we were the Guerrilla force.
Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by paulddraper on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @09:53PM (#16761134)
That's the classic example, though folks will often argue it doesn't apply because there were only muskets and cannon, not machine guns (though that's technically not true).
Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by ufo on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @06:22PM (#16759824)
with lots of help from France...
Re:Google Workers Urge C.E.O. To Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. P... by jstarfish on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @07:11PM (#16760219)
The VC, Taliban and everything that followed also heavily leveraged explosives against an underarmored opponent in their fights-- it wasn't just a matter of small arms. It should be telling that you can currently keep your toy guns, but god help you if you try to buy fertilizer and blasting caps in America without a damn good reason.

Waco and Ruby Ridge had an endless arsenal of small arms. It didn't help them.