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The final battle in the lord of the rings: "My brave warriors! We have already lost. Freedom is not worth fighting for. Orcs outnumber us, and they are so cruel

by akomtu 4y ago

The final battle in the lord of the rings: "My brave warriors! We have already lost. Freedom is not worth fighting for. Orcs outnumber us, and they are so cruel! If we surrender to Sauron, he might choose to burn us quickly. Let's give up our swords, bend to the enemy and show them how spineless we are!"

ekianjo 4y ago
So you interpret my comment which is a purely factual one as willingness to giving up on Privacy? OK.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" [1] Not to pick on you for any reason, but I interpret it that way too. And FWIW I thought akomtu's comment was quite funny. Saying that a state of affairs already exists is no kind of moral or rational argument against the wrongs of bad circumstances. In it's most charitable interpretation it's just empty "whataboutism". A less charitable take is that it's tacit support for a situation by propagating morale-sapping defeatism. I'm glad that more people are starting to call out "Privacy is dead just give up" naysayers. Now, I'm not saying you are one or that is your intent, but please be mindful that statements that seem to normalise bad circumstances in an offhand way can can't help but be interpreted at lending assent. As Howard Zinn put it [1]: "The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change." The same goes for bad ideas as for bold ones. So instead of simply amplifying what is in a rotten world, why not go one step further and say what should be if you wish to say anything at all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn:_You_Can%27t_Be_Neutral_on_a_Moving_Train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn:_You_Can%27t_Be_Ne...
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    > Now, I'm not saying you are one or that is your intent, but please be mindful that statements that seem to normalise bad circumstances in an offhand way In case it was not clear, the parent comment I was responding to was mentioning "if we do that, we'd be tracked day and night wherever we go" (I paraphrase) and to me it's amusing that that poster did not notice that it's already happening right now. That does not say anything about this being desirable or not, again. > say what should be if you wish to say anything at all. You don't have any say about how I should comment on HN.

by akomtu 4y ago

ekianjo 4y ago

So you interpret my comment which is a purely factual one as willingness to giving up on Privacy? OK.

nonrandomstring 4y ago
"You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" [1] Not to pick on you for any reason, but I interpret it that way too. And FWIW I thought akomtu's comment was quite funny. Saying that a state of affairs already exists is no kind of moral or rational argument against the wrongs of bad circumstances. In it's most charitable interpretation it's just empty "whataboutism". A less charitable take is that it's tacit support for a situation by propagating morale-sapping defeatism. I'm glad that more people are starting to call out "Privacy is dead just give up" naysayers. Now, I'm not saying you are one or that is your intent, but please be mindful that statements that seem to normalise bad circumstances in an offhand way can can't help but be interpreted at lending assent. As Howard Zinn put it [1]: "The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change." The same goes for bad ideas as for bold ones. So instead of simply amplifying what is in a rotten world, why not go one step further and say what should be if you wish to say anything at all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn:_You_Can%27t_Be_Neutral_on_a_Moving_Train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn:_You_Can%27t_Be_Ne...
- ekianjo 4y ago
  > Now, I'm not saying you are one or that is your intent, but please be mindful that statements that seem to normalise bad circumstances in an offhand way In case it was not clear, the parent comment I was responding to was mentioning "if we do that, we'd be tracked day and night wherever we go" (I paraphrase) and to me it's amusing that that poster did not notice that it's already happening right now. That does not say anything about this being desirable or not, again. > say what should be if you wish to say anything at all. You don't have any say about how I should comment on HN.