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When talking about government surveillance, people often ask some version of 'well, if you're not doing anything wrong, what are you afraid of?'. My response i
by wing-_-nuts 1y ago
When talking about government surveillance, people often ask some version of 'well, if you're not doing anything wrong, what are you afraid of?'. My response is always, 'It's not that I don't trust our current government, I don't trust all future governments that come after this one'.
I hope given the recent events of having some hired thugs rifle through government databases (including the OPM, which supposedly has very sensitive data from security clearance applications), that maybe letting people collect and store data on you should be avoided at all cost.
The older I get, the more I understand the stereotype of the eccentric former techie who no longer wants anything to do with modern technology or society
- the_snooze 1y ago> 'well, if you're not doing anything wrong, what are you afraid of?' I like to go with the simpler "I hold lots of sensitive data for people who trust me: my family, my friends, my employer. One would have to be a sociopath to disclose other people's secrets without their consent."
- blooalien 1y ago> "I hold lots of sensitive data for people who trust me: my family, my friends, my employer. One would have to be a sociopath to disclose other people's secrets without their consent." Oh, that's a good one. I'ma totally steal that...
- patrickmay 1y agoI see no reason to trust the current government, nor any of the previous ones in my lifetime.
- napierzaza 1y ago[dead]
- theyinwhy 1y agoWhy would people distrust governments more than companies? I never understood that part.
- dmitrygr 1y agoBecause the government has more power over you. Thus, they deserve more scrutiny and suspicion.
- kurikuri 1y agoExcept the ostensible motive of the government is to serve its people, whereas the company’s motive is either those of the people who control the company or profit. Even then, if the government is weak than the ‘more power over you’ is simply false. Maybe the magnitude of the power is more for a government, but companies apply their power with much more frequency.
- dmitrygr 1y ago> the ostensible motive of the government is to serve its people I see your history teachers did a poor job. My condolences.
- theyinwhy 1y agoPersonal attacks are not welcome here. Btw, "the apparent motive of the government is to serve its people" still stands even if the government does not serve its people.
- godelski 1y ago> the ostensible motive of the government is to serve its people Your conclusion doesn't seem to match your usage of "ostensible". Yes, /democratic/ governments claim to serve its people, but do not necessarily do so. You should always be suspicious and critical of your government in an effort to ensure that the stated goal and actions are aligned. You should always be treating your government as adversarial. In fact, if you read a lot of the writings of people influential to the founding of the US you'll find that they were explicitly trying to design a system where they say its biggest adversary was itself. But also, there are plenty of governments that do not even pretend to serve its people. They are completely self-serving and transparent about that fact. You never know when one is going to turn into the other but often going from ostensibly benevolent to explicitly malevolent is relatively mild, but gaining back freedom usually requires a lot of bloodshed. There's always exceptions, but this is common. The wort part is that people frequently vote in the malevolent leaders. Democracies can turn into autocracies without spilling a single drop of blood. I'm unaware of the reverse ever happening.
- andoando 1y agoI mean, I dont want the private details of my life exposed, illegal or not. Who does
- dillydogg 1y agoI know, it's not as if I just let the cops walk through my house whenever they want. I just don't understand the "I've got nothing to hide" defense.