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Excellent points.

"So when we're faced with a case like Swartz's, why are we so quick to find someone to blame?"

Let me answer that for you by quoting Rahm Emanuel:

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

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I've never heard that quote before, and as sad as it is, it's a pretty damn good one. Honestly, prior to his suicide, I didn't really know much about Aaron Swartz, and I certainly had no idea that the U.S. prosecuted this harshly for what seems like a mild/minor crime.

Understand that "never let a crisis go to waste" was also the mindset that allowed the Bush administration to pivot from 9/11 response to invading Iraq--despite a complete lack of connection between the two.

My point is that while crisis creates opportunity, it does not justify all responses. It does not exempt us from the need to soberly and (as much as possible) objectively consider the merits of what people propose to do.

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