Obama, Bush, Kennedy & Nixon and just about every representative of ours has failed us miserably in the last 50+ years. No getting arround that.
Worse than that, We the voting public have failed. Most people do not care or actively support such surveillence programs. Either they benefit (safety) or feel their lives are so boring nobody will care about them. Wrong! This surveillence apparatus is a double edged sword that can be used against you, me or anyone even the (former) elites as they battle for power (elites like everyone else are not a unified block and have enemies). All it takes is an angry neighbor to give your name to the authorities even if its BS.
Politics is a lot like religion. A Political position is a gut level reaction justfied by "logic". It becomes part of person's core being. Telling them that political policy or platform is wrong/evil; you are calling them wrong/evil. Want to see it in action start a discussion on: Taxes, guns, abortion, privacy, property rights etc...
We are headed toward a mob tyranny. I used to say social media was like a small town with two billion people. It may be more like a JR Highschool/Middle School with 2 billion screaming hormonal tweens, except these are adults with adult resources and capacity for trouble..
This is exactly the slippery moral slope I terrified of far more than some distant faceless tyrranical governement. Even if Alice's boss wanted to keep her, he, his other employess their families maybe facing boycotts & assaults if he does keep Alice.
There are a lot of nutters out there not just the religious right wing variety either willing to escalate at the slightest provocation.
Problem with all tools is they have the same moral compass as the user. We may be headed for a new form of tyranny, one based on social media with power based on the popularity of the cause (goes viral, who organizes the message and how unpopular the target(s) is(are).
Right now going after pedo's, trolls and other creeps are the low hanging fruit. They deserve much of the punishment they are going to recieve.
Now what happens when you run out of pedo's, trolls and creeps (more likely they go darknet or mask themselves better)?
What happens when these "tools" bleed into legitimate politics and business as a form of intimidation? Just like what happend when a journist outted the gun owners in his area and then had his and his colleagues information published (google the Journal News). Right now no-one involved in either outting has be blacklisted, boycotted, flashmobbed (flash riotted) or assualted as far as I know, I pray it stays that way. What happens when (not if) these tactics escalate?
Questions to ask ourselves.
Right now I self censor on politics and economics. I don't contribute to causes: no bumper stickers/signs, no money, no volunteering and certainly no petition signing (those databases get hacked). I have small children who would likely be targeted/suffer should I choose the "wrong side". Government tyanny is the least of my worries.
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Re: Response to: Ninja on Aug 20th, 2013 @ 3:58am
To many benfit from the current system
Re: Re: Re: Secure E-Mail
THIS
Re:
Obama, Bush, Kennedy & Nixon and just about every representative of ours has failed us miserably in the last 50+ years. No getting arround that.
Worse than that, We the voting public have failed. Most people do not care or actively support such surveillence programs. Either they benefit (safety) or feel their lives are so boring nobody will care about them. Wrong! This surveillence apparatus is a double edged sword that can be used against you, me or anyone even the (former) elites as they battle for power (elites like everyone else are not a unified block and have enemies). All it takes is an angry neighbor to give your name to the authorities even if its BS.
Re: Re: Re: Gawker...
Unpopular opinions will also get unmasked.
Politics is a lot like religion. A Political position is a gut level reaction justfied by "logic". It becomes part of person's core being. Telling them that political policy or platform is wrong/evil; you are calling them wrong/evil. Want to see it in action start a discussion on: Taxes, guns, abortion, privacy, property rights etc...
We are headed toward a mob tyranny. I used to say social media was like a small town with two billion people. It may be more like a JR Highschool/Middle School with 2 billion screaming hormonal tweens, except these are adults with adult resources and capacity for trouble..
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral reasoning can be a tricky thing
This is exactly the slippery moral slope I terrified of far more than some distant faceless tyrranical governement. Even if Alice's boss wanted to keep her, he, his other employess their families maybe facing boycotts & assaults if he does keep Alice.
There are a lot of nutters out there not just the religious right wing variety either willing to escalate at the slightest provocation.
Re: Journalism is for the powerless
I agree.
Problem with all tools is they have the same moral compass as the user. We may be headed for a new form of tyranny, one based on social media with power based on the popularity of the cause (goes viral, who organizes the message and how unpopular the target(s) is(are).
Right now going after pedo's, trolls and other creeps are the low hanging fruit. They deserve much of the punishment they are going to recieve.
Now what happens when you run out of pedo's, trolls and creeps (more likely they go darknet or mask themselves better)?
What happens when these "tools" bleed into legitimate politics and business as a form of intimidation? Just like what happend when a journist outted the gun owners in his area and then had his and his colleagues information published (google the Journal News). Right now no-one involved in either outting has be blacklisted, boycotted, flashmobbed (flash riotted) or assualted as far as I know, I pray it stays that way. What happens when (not if) these tactics escalate?
Questions to ask ourselves.
Right now I self censor on politics and economics. I don't contribute to causes: no bumper stickers/signs, no money, no volunteering and certainly no petition signing (those databases get hacked). I have small children who would likely be targeted/suffer should I choose the "wrong side". Government tyanny is the least of my worries.