What We Need is a Law

ON THE RIGHT

The current issue of a mass magazine offers, for a mere $18, to send you a little (“Weighs only 4 lbs.!”) device that looks like a miniature radar antennae and guarantees to bring to your ear private conversations being held a full 500 yards (“Five times the length of a football field!”) away. And wait a minute, lest you spend the full measure of your delight at the mere prospect of being able to eavesdrop: there is a jack behind the instrument into which you can plug your tape machine soastobe able to record said conversations and play them back (“Be the life of the party!”) to your friends! Not bad, is it? For a mere $18 you can violate the privacy of anybody within five football fields’ distance of you, and arrange to preserve that violation forever on magnetic tape.

About the Author

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

ON THE RIGHT

The current issue of a mass magazine offers, for a mere $18, to send you a little (“Weighs only 4 lbs.!”) device that looks like a miniature radar antennae and guarantees to bring to your ear private conversations being held a full 500 yards (“Five times the length of a football field!”) away. And wait a minute, lest you spend the full measure of your delight at the mere prospect of being able to eavesdrop: there is a jack behind the instrument into which you can plug your tape machine soastobe able to record said conversations and play them back (“Be the life of the party!”) to your friends! Not bad, is it? For a mere $18 you can violate the privacy of anybody within five football fields’ distance of you, and arrange to preserve that violation forever on magnetic tape.