Freedom and Information

Notice -- when we talk about information and freedom, as I was earlier -- that two meanings of the words are entangled; and the Obama Administration is enforcing two kinds of laws. One group is laws that limit information in the interests of security and state power; the other group is laws that control information in the interests of property.

In one case, free means "not imprisoned or enslaved, at liberty" or "not subject to arbitrary interference by a government." In the other case, free means "costing nothing; gratuitous."

In the first case, the opposite of free is "subject to arbitrary interference by a government." in the second case, the opposite of free is "owned" or "costing money."

Two different meanings, having to do with property and political rights. But they are interwoven.

In the end, I suspect, they cannot be separated, and that it's impossible to have expansive property rights -- ones that extend beyond personal belongings and the tools one works with -- and political freedom at the same time.

Maybe for a while. But in the end, property will overwhelm freedom.