Ding! Ding! Ding! I think we have a winner. It's a self reinforcing effect too. The less people that speak out the less people that speak out because nobody else is.
I don't think that fear is really the culprit here.
People on the internet don't seem to have trouble speaking out about all sorts of other things.
I think the issues which are fundamental to the cypherpunk ethos (if such a thing can be said to exist‡) just aren't things most people care about. And you can totally make a valid argument that this will pretty much ensure that the worst-case scenario is the one that will come to pass (if you are so inclined).
But I don't get the impression that there's this large contingent of people who are actually interested in this who aren't participating because they're worried. I'd love to be wrong though, as that would mean that there could be a much more lively and productive community to swell up.
Yes, that's part of the reason for this blog post, and why I posted it here to HN. Sometimes you need somebody to stir the pot a little and try to stimulate the conversation.
