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That's not entirely fair. It's not like every single person in these huge institutions is craven unprincipled authoritarian. But there are clear cultural probl
by jasonwatkinspdx 14y ago
That's not entirely fair. It's not like every single person in these huge institutions is craven unprincipled authoritarian.
But there are clear cultural problems, and a broader political failure that enables these flaws to escape accountability.
I wish I had an easy answer, but sadly, I think the way things will go is that they'll get worse before they get better, and the process of change will not be easy. In the meantime, a great many largely innocent people are going to get ground up in the gears of the system our society is building.
- mindslight 14y agoThe specifics of the individuals and their beliefs don't matter, the ultimate behavior of the institutions is corrupt. Talking about culture and notions of accountability is missing the forest for the trees - any resulting reforms will simply be received as 'what hoops do we have to jump through now?'. The only way to stop the NSA from performing surveillance on everybody is to completely remove their on-books funding and then dismantle the remaining criminal organization.
- jasonwatkinspdx 14y agoI'm sorry, but that just doesn't match reality. I wish we lived in a world where we could put down our stick and trust everyone else to do likewise, but I do not believe that is the case. The problem we have right now is ensuring the stick is used morally. That is an inherently cultural concept. There is no easy answer, unless you believe you are entitled to the same autocratic oppression of those you criticize.