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Uh, what about the Arab Spring? Modern communication technology is what enabled those revolutions. In China, policies like the great firewall exist because the

Uh, what about the Arab Spring? Modern communication technology is what enabled those revolutions. In China, policies like the great firewall exist because the internet does challenge the central government. China is stable because 1.) people are happy with the CCP's economic results, 2.) the state controls large Chinese tech companies, and 3.) the government regularly "disappears" vocal dissenters. Expect a state crackdown if their economy starts crumbling.

vkou 9y ago
And if they took place in the 60s, those revolutions would have used telephones and radios and leaflets. It's not clear that they would not have been possible without modern communications. Centuries of history have made it clear that you don't need Twitter to start a bread riot. The outcome of the Arab Spring has also not exactly resulted in democracy across the board, either. Remind me - how have things in Syria been, lately? > In China, policies like the great firewall exist because the internet does challenge the central government. As it turns out, you can just use more IT to repress the 'democratizing' effects of IT. Speaking of closer to home - if the United States were to turn into a authoritarian state tomorrow, the 'democratizing efforts of IT' would not protect you. If jack-booted thugs were knocking on their literal office door, Facebook, Google, Apple, Snapchat, etc will turn you over faster then you can blink. GPG won't help you, either. In fact, it'll make it all that much easier for them to find you. A dictatorship doesn't need to decrypt your messages, if using encryption to communicate is enough to send you to the GULAG. (Or if they can employ the $5 rubber hose.) Incidentally, what I described is all possible in China. So much for computers liberating us.
wz1000 9y ago
And what came of the Arab Spring and its western cousin, Occupy Wall Street? Pretty much nothing, excluding moderate success in Tunisia. They were all crushed, either by the state itself, or through foreign intervention.

vkou 9y ago

And if they took place in the 60s, those revolutions would have used telephones and radios and leaflets. It's not clear that they would not have been possible without modern communications. Centuries of history have made it clear that you don't need Twitter to start a bread riot. The outcome of the Arab Spring has also not exactly resulted in democracy across the board, either. Remind me - how have things in Syria been, lately? > In China, policies like the great firewall exist because the internet does challenge the central government. As it turns out, you can just use more IT to repress the 'democratizing' effects of IT. Speaking of closer to home - if the United States were to turn into a authoritarian state tomorrow, the 'democratizing efforts of IT' would not protect you. If jack-booted thugs were knocking on their literal office door, Facebook, Google, Apple, Snapchat, etc will turn you over faster then you can blink. GPG won't help you, either. In fact, it'll make it all that much easier for them to find you. A dictatorship doesn't need to decrypt your messages, if using encryption to communicate is enough to send you to the GULAG. (Or if they can employ the $5 rubber hose.) Incidentally, what I described is all possible in China. So much for computers liberating us.

wz1000 9y ago

And what came of the Arab Spring and its western cousin, Occupy Wall Street? Pretty much nothing, excluding moderate success in Tunisia. They were all crushed, either by the state itself, or through foreign intervention.