The societal damage caused by guns is 3-orders of magnitude greater than the damage caused by crypto. This says nothing about the benefits, which I'd argue are

The societal damage caused by guns is 3-orders of magnitude greater than the damage caused by crypto. This says nothing about the benefits, which I'd argue are much greater still. A couple of hundred years ago the second amendment was a critical and important component of America, because it allowed the people to protect themselves against the government. That threat of direct violence is now much less, but in it's place the government now threatens our freedom by threatening our privacy. And this is a very real threat. And damage that this would do is far far greater in an information society. Huxly's 1984 wasn't a book about physical combat fought with guns it was a war fought with information.