Hold on for Dear Life

# Summary The article explores the paradox of cryptography's role in resisting authoritarianism: while modern encryption can provide mathematically unbreakable privacy, its effectiveness ultimately depends on physical security and the rule of law rather than technology alone. The author argues that encryption cannot overthrow tyranny by itself, since authoritarian regimes can use physical coercion ("wrench attacks") to force people to reveal their encryption keys, making strong legal protections and civil institutions essential complements to any technological solution.