The world is moving in strange directions.  We live in different times from the days of our grandfathers, who fought for freedom from Nazi tyranny and villainy.  Today people are not so sure of who the bad guys are any more.

The Internet was born in a darker time when the fear was that a nuclear war might destroy everything.  Scientists and engineers wanted to make sure that something survived, somewhere, and they were not worried about who might be listening on the line.  They were just hoping someone would be left to listen at the end of the worst possible conflict in human history.

But now we are arguing over the basic right to privacy.  We want the Internet to keep some information hidden away even as we use it.  These privacy concerns may be misguided but they are widespread.  And they are divisive.

If we have learned anything from the past it is that you cannot deprive people of their freedom of expression for long.  They will fight back.  But in the current conflict both sides say their freedom of expression is being threatened.  How can both sides be right or both sides be wrong?

I’m not sure where this will all lead but I think it will produce new ideas that no one expected, and new rules that no one will be entirely happy with.  The only way we can survive as a society is to find ways to compromise.  That has been true for thousands of years.

If we fail to find a compromise point we’ll fail as a society.  The final conflict might arise from our heedless efforts to prevent it.