You're looking at a different threat model. Hard drive encryption isn't there to stop the government, the police, or the Girl Scouts. It's there so that when

You're looking at a different threat model. Hard drive encryption isn't there to stop the government, the police, or the Girl Scouts. It's there so that when the Pink Panther walks away with your laptop, he doesn't get instant access to to all of your data. If Mr. Laptop Thief wants your home directory, he's going to need to do a hell of a lot more work than reinstalling the OS and throwing the machine up on eBay. If your drive isn't encrypted, I'll wager that a laptop thief would take a few minutes to poke around and look for something interesting, like that file 'Corporate Strategy 2010.doc', or "My Affair With The Underaged Intern, Oh God I Hope This Doesn't Get Leaked Onto The Pirate Bay.avi".