4 ms·

Hmm, nah I don't think people understand that they created NSA. It is them and their neighbor living in quiet area paying taxes where government want to keep th

by ozim 7y ago

Hmm, nah I don't think people understand that they created NSA. It is them and their neighbor living in quiet area paying taxes where government want to keep them quiet and keep paying. This way of things is giving birth to idealism and naivete. Just like people living in cities are idealistic and naive about life of cattle and poultry. You don't want innocent chicken to be killed, but it is tasty. You don't want innocent person to be kept in hidden prison, but you feel safer. They all would like to close down the farms or agencies that deal with bad stuff, but once they will be hungry enough that they will have to kill an animal or will be faced with actual violence, they will change their mind right away. (I bet they will want someone else to deal with such things) If someone lives comfy life he can be oblivious. But on the other hand that is also beneficial for society because people in first world countries can focus on growing their interests and don't mind that bad stuff. In the end if I would have to kill chickens for food every day I could not learn software development. So I am grateful I don't have to. I am also grateful that I don't have to deal with criminal people every day, because also I probably would not have time to do software development (most likely I would be dead before my 20th birthday).

friendly_fren 7y ago
A spy agency is necessary for the USA to compete on the world stage. Though, it's operations should be significantly limited. The CIA is a disaster that needs to be dismantled.
- einpoklum 7y ago
  The conceit of planetary-level politics being a "competition" is - with due respect - propaganda of the imperialist powers, that most of us are being fed and expected to buy into. Don't. In fact, with deepening global threats like climate change and nuclear war (), it is becoming clear just how mortally dangerous such perceptions are. So: Stop supporting "competition on the world stage". --- Yes, that is still a thing and making quite the comeback; see: https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-new-nuclear-weapons-782853 https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-new-nuclear-weapons-782... and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/us-nuclear-weapons-first-low-yield-warheads-roll-off-the-production-line https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/us-nuclear-wea... for example.
  - frickinLasers 7y ago
    Welp, I'm a doomsday prepper now.
- dsl 7y ago
  > The CIA is a disaster that needs to be dismantled. Working for the CIA is like being a sysadmin. The world only knows you exist when you fuck up. There was a great CCC talk recently that showed how one of the Vault 7 tools wasn't a remote assassination boogieman drone tool like Wikileaks framed it, but actually a control the CIA developed that allowed them to give anti-air weapons to friendlies in Syria and Ukraine with positive access control and strong time/geo scoping to prevent them from being used nefariously.
  - Shacklz 7y ago
    > Working for the CIA is like being a sysadmin. The world only knows you exist when you fuck up. While there's some truth to that, this way of thinking entirely ignores the opportunity cost that all those agencies have. With those insane budgets, you could do so much good in the world that one wouldn't have to fear the problems those agencies try to solve, because a lot of them wouldn't exist in the first place.
    - JoeSmithson 7y ago
      The budget of intelligence agencies is not anywhere near that big.
  - einpoklum 7y ago
    CCC... Communist Congress of China? Christian Columnist Caucus? Conference on Computational Complexity?
    - niklasd 7y ago
      Probably Chaos Computer Club, a German association of hackers. At least in Europe quite well known. They do a lot of cool stuff, like looking for security flaws in voting machines and such stuff.
JohnFen 7y ago
> You don't want innocent person to be kept in hidden prison, but you feel safer. Umm, no. That this happens makes me feel less safe. If it can happen to anyone, after all, it can happen to me or the people I hold dear.
einpoklum 7y ago
I would say it is the _opposite_ of what you suggest. That is, people are willing to accept the existence of oppressive institutions because they are kept ignorant about their terrible impact. And those who aren't ignorant are fearful. On a personal note: I' been arrested, I've been beaten, I've been in court and I've been in prison (*) to uphold and promote my beliefs and principles. And I do software development too... it's possible :-)

by ozim 7y ago

friendly_fren 7y ago

A spy agency is necessary for the USA to compete on the world stage. Though, it's operations should be significantly limited. The CIA is a disaster that needs to be dismantled.

einpoklum 7y ago
The conceit of planetary-level politics being a "competition" is - with due respect - propaganda of the imperialist powers, that most of us are being fed and expected to buy into. Don't. In fact, with deepening global threats like climate change and nuclear war (), it is becoming clear just how mortally dangerous such perceptions are. So: Stop supporting "competition on the world stage". --- Yes, that is still a thing and making quite the comeback; see: https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-new-nuclear-weapons-782853 https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-new-nuclear-weapons-782... and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/us-nuclear-weapons-first-low-yield-warheads-roll-off-the-production-line https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/us-nuclear-wea... for example.
- frickinLasers 7y ago
  Welp, I'm a doomsday prepper now.
dsl 7y ago
> The CIA is a disaster that needs to be dismantled. Working for the CIA is like being a sysadmin. The world only knows you exist when you fuck up. There was a great CCC talk recently that showed how one of the Vault 7 tools wasn't a remote assassination boogieman drone tool like Wikileaks framed it, but actually a control the CIA developed that allowed them to give anti-air weapons to friendlies in Syria and Ukraine with positive access control and strong time/geo scoping to prevent them from being used nefariously.
- Shacklz 7y ago
  > Working for the CIA is like being a sysadmin. The world only knows you exist when you fuck up. While there's some truth to that, this way of thinking entirely ignores the opportunity cost that all those agencies have. With those insane budgets, you could do so much good in the world that one wouldn't have to fear the problems those agencies try to solve, because a lot of them wouldn't exist in the first place.
  - JoeSmithson 7y ago
    The budget of intelligence agencies is not anywhere near that big.
- einpoklum 7y ago
  CCC... Communist Congress of China? Christian Columnist Caucus? Conference on Computational Complexity?
  - niklasd 7y ago
    Probably Chaos Computer Club, a German association of hackers. At least in Europe quite well known. They do a lot of cool stuff, like looking for security flaws in voting machines and such stuff.

JohnFen 7y ago

> You don't want innocent person to be kept in hidden prison, but you feel safer. Umm, no. That this happens makes me feel less safe. If it can happen to anyone, after all, it can happen to me or the people I hold dear.

einpoklum 7y ago

I would say it is the _opposite_ of what you suggest. That is, people are willing to accept the existence of oppressive institutions because they are kept ignorant about their terrible impact. And those who aren't ignorant are fearful. On a personal note: I' been arrested, I've been beaten, I've been in court and I've been in prison (*) to uphold and promote my beliefs and principles. And I do software development too... it's possible :-)