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People downvoting you are probably taking your statement as normative, whereas it's purely positive. It's not about what the govt should do. It is what it does.
by kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago
People downvoting you are probably taking your statement as normative, whereas it's purely positive. It's not about what the govt should do. It is what it does.
For example, the police, the IRS, DHS etc etc. (and hence the state) WILL be helped in their jobs by increasing surveillance, and so will always be trying to increase its scope.
Whether it's _worth_ the loss of privacy is of course a valid debate.
- ryanmarsh 9y agoPeople downvoting you are probably taking your statement as normative A bit meta but I wish more up/downvoters on HN could tell the difference between normative and descriptive speech.
- anigbrowl 9y agoSo do I, and I wish they could tell that speculations on motivation are inherently normative.
- barrkel 9y agoIt is not a positive statement. It sounds like one, by it's actually a judgement about how effective government is. I'm quite certain that it is false.
- alethiophile 9y agoIt would certainly be interesting to hear some evidence or justification for this position, given that the record of governments with respect to privacy over the Internet era (at least) has been uniformly dismal and getting worse. It certainly seems like the positive statement "government is not motivated to protect individual privacy and will not effectively do so" is well-supported by current experience.