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From a selfish American-centric perspective, sometimes it feels like different west-aligned countries/regions use these attempts as test beds to gauge acceptabl

From a selfish American-centric perspective, sometimes it feels like different west-aligned countries/regions use these attempts as test beds to gauge acceptableness in other countries/regions.

majormajor 8y ago
I worry "grand conspiracy" views distract from the problem of public opinion often being in favor of the bad ideas. After Snowden I had a couple people I barely knew comment to me something like I should "stop there from being more Snowdens" as a software developer, since they saw it in very simplistic terms as "my country = good, this guy = sabotaging my country" but I didn't run into anyone offline who shared the privacy-conscious reaction with me. I think that explains why these things pop up everywhere much more simply. And without changing that perception, the other battles seem like losing fights.
- kodablah 8y ago
  > I worry "grand conspiracy" views distract from the problem of public opinion often being in favor of the bad ideas. The cynic in me is not concerned because I feel public opinion can be swayed and/or the issue is not the biggest/most-important issue in representative democracies. I admit being overly cynical on the importance of public opinion and therefore my disagreement efforts manifest more in counteracting technologies than politicking (and even then, the efforts are little and of limited consequence).
plugger 8y ago
Isn't that exactly what has happened here? IIRC there was a Five Eyes get together not too long ago where they all decided this was the direction they should follow and Australia would take the lead. https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/621107/australia-looks-lead-five-eyes-encryption-discussion/ https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/621107/australia-looks-lea... https://www.itnews.com.au/news/five-eyes-nations-to-force-encryption-backdoors-511865 https://www.itnews.com.au/news/five-eyes-nations-to-force-en...

From a selfish American-centric perspective, sometimes it feels like different west-aligned countries/regions use these attempts as test beds to gauge acceptableness in other countries/regions.

majormajor 8y ago

I worry "grand conspiracy" views distract from the problem of public opinion often being in favor of the bad ideas. After Snowden I had a couple people I barely knew comment to me something like I should "stop there from being more Snowdens" as a software developer, since they saw it in very simplistic terms as "my country = good, this guy = sabotaging my country" but I didn't run into anyone offline who shared the privacy-conscious reaction with me. I think that explains why these things pop up everywhere much more simply. And without changing that perception, the other battles seem like losing fights.

kodablah 8y ago
> I worry "grand conspiracy" views distract from the problem of public opinion often being in favor of the bad ideas. The cynic in me is not concerned because I feel public opinion can be swayed and/or the issue is not the biggest/most-important issue in representative democracies. I admit being overly cynical on the importance of public opinion and therefore my disagreement efforts manifest more in counteracting technologies than politicking (and even then, the efforts are little and of limited consequence).

plugger 8y ago

Isn't that exactly what has happened here? IIRC there was a Five Eyes get together not too long ago where they all decided this was the direction they should follow and Australia would take the lead. https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/621107/australia-looks-lead-five-eyes-encryption-discussion/ https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/621107/australia-looks-lea... https://www.itnews.com.au/news/five-eyes-nations-to-force-encryption-backdoors-511865 https://www.itnews.com.au/news/five-eyes-nations-to-force-en...