3 ms·

Well, it’s not that bleak. You just need to have the knowledge to control your own privacy rather than relying on the government to have your back. Really the

Well, it’s not that bleak. You just need to have the knowledge to control your own privacy rather than relying on the government to have your back. Really the bad part is that most people don’t know about or how to use technology to protect their privacy :-/

ProAm 9y ago
> rather than relying on the government to have your back What's the purpose of having a government again?
- dmm 9y ago
  Social Security + Medicare + Medicaid is 50% of the federal budget. Defense is another 17%. So the purpose of the government is mostly income redistribution and defense.
  - cjbenedikt 9y ago
    Where do your nbrs come from? https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/US_fed_spending_pie_chart https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/US_fed_spending_pie_cha...
    - 24gttghh 9y ago
      Those numbers confirm the stats, and actually prove GP's point better (that the gov't is mostly medicare/aid, social security, and defense; half being the former, and ~22% being spent on defense), and are similar to numbers from the CBO [0] [0] https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/budgetinfographic.pdf https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments...
    - dmm 9y ago
      I was using the numbers for 2015. The years after that aren't significantly different. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/US_Federal_Budget_Comparison_2016_vs._2015.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/US_Feder...
1001101 9y ago
If you've looked at the Shadow Brokers releases, Vault 7 etc., you will be reminded that, even as a privacy conscious technologist, you're still going up against PhDs with budgets of 10s of billions / yr.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  ...who work on this stuff as a day job, and likely also as passion projects. IOW, unless you dedicate your entire life to not being spied upon, you'll very likely "lose".

3 ms·

Well, it’s not that bleak. You just need to have the knowledge to control your own privacy rather than relying on the government to have your back. Really the

by plandis 9y ago

ProAm 9y ago
> rather than relying on the government to have your back What's the purpose of having a government again?
- dmm 9y ago
  Social Security + Medicare + Medicaid is 50% of the federal budget. Defense is another 17%. So the purpose of the government is mostly income redistribution and defense.
  - cjbenedikt 9y ago
    Where do your nbrs come from? https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/US_fed_spending_pie_chart https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/US_fed_spending_pie_cha...
    - 24gttghh 9y ago
      Those numbers confirm the stats, and actually prove GP's point better (that the gov't is mostly medicare/aid, social security, and defense; half being the former, and ~22% being spent on defense), and are similar to numbers from the CBO [0] [0] https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/budgetinfographic.pdf https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments...
    - dmm 9y ago
      I was using the numbers for 2015. The years after that aren't significantly different. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/US_Federal_Budget_Comparison_2016_vs._2015.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/US_Feder...
1001101 9y ago
If you've looked at the Shadow Brokers releases, Vault 7 etc., you will be reminded that, even as a privacy conscious technologist, you're still going up against PhDs with budgets of 10s of billions / yr.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  ...who work on this stuff as a day job, and likely also as passion projects. IOW, unless you dedicate your entire life to not being spied upon, you'll very likely "lose".