4 ms·

First of all, ad hominem never helped anyone. Second, I don't for a second expect to win. The point is not to win at all, it's to start something. I'm not the

by kunai 13y ago

First of all, ad hominem never helped anyone. Second, I don't for a second expect to win. The point is not to win at all, it's to start something. I'm not the only one who believes so; there are plenty others who believe the same and are willing to risk imprisonment, scorn, or injury to advance rights (e.g. Aaron Swartz. If you wish to disagree you may). We are perhaps a little bit more free than we were in the '60s, but for the last 70 years, we have been limited by secret, corrupt government and a legislature that really sucks. Third, you say I should choose my battles wisely, yet in your original post you suggested I do nothing at all. How is that choosing a battle at all? I'm preaching peaceful protest, and you imply that we should sit by while everything falls to pieces. Do you want your kids to grow up in a world that is ruled, not led? Call me a conspirast, but it will be true if these conditions continue.

joonix 13y ago
The people who want to "start something" generally have nothing to lose. The average American in the suburbs with a family has plenty to lose. Their children, their spouse, their job/income and providing, and safety, are far more of a concern to them than their phone records being spied on by the government in the name of counter terrorism. People riot and rebel when they are starving, not when their stomaches are full.
w_t_payne 13y ago
True, to a rational mind, the insult and slander that I have committed against you is a distraction from the debate and the pursuit of truth ... but since when did we become rational creatures? The value of truth was always an illusion to which we paid but lip-service; the deeper nature of reality is that our world; our society is built on nothing more than lies and delusion. Say something often enough and it becomes true through repetition and memory. Say it vehemently enough and you gain followers, mouthpieces for your message. Rationality and critical thinking are myths. For all practical purposes they do not exist. So, I say it again. Technology is a lever. Over time, it amplifies pre-existing power relationships. Good becomes great, bad becomes evil. Which is which? We cannot tell. Both are banal; grey; undifferentiated. Where subservient relationships exist, they become entrenched; the vulnerable, exposed. In terms of dynamics, basins of stability become inverted; hills pushing the world-state towards extrema, old arrangements; unbalanced. Information is power; control the information, control the ideas, control the people. I wish it were not so. I wish that this fatalistic voice; this persona of doom; an expression of my darkest fears ... I wish that it were not so readily adopted. I wish that it were more clearly "playing the fool" ... but my wishes are confounded by a great and dreadful uncertainty ... I wish that my cry could be: "Hail the brave", but my doubts cloud my mind... so I sink to playing petty, trivialising language-games, because I no longer know what matters and what does not ...
w_t_payne 13y ago
Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in: https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-June/008815.html https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-J...

by kunai 13y ago

joonix 13y ago

The people who want to "start something" generally have nothing to lose. The average American in the suburbs with a family has plenty to lose. Their children, their spouse, their job/income and providing, and safety, are far more of a concern to them than their phone records being spied on by the government in the name of counter terrorism. People riot and rebel when they are starving, not when their stomaches are full.

w_t_payne 13y ago

True, to a rational mind, the insult and slander that I have committed against you is a distraction from the debate and the pursuit of truth ... but since when did we become rational creatures? The value of truth was always an illusion to which we paid but lip-service; the deeper nature of reality is that our world; our society is built on nothing more than lies and delusion. Say something often enough and it becomes true through repetition and memory. Say it vehemently enough and you gain followers, mouthpieces for your message. Rationality and critical thinking are myths. For all practical purposes they do not exist. So, I say it again. Technology is a lever. Over time, it amplifies pre-existing power relationships. Good becomes great, bad becomes evil. Which is which? We cannot tell. Both are banal; grey; undifferentiated. Where subservient relationships exist, they become entrenched; the vulnerable, exposed. In terms of dynamics, basins of stability become inverted; hills pushing the world-state towards extrema, old arrangements; unbalanced. Information is power; control the information, control the ideas, control the people. I wish it were not so. I wish that this fatalistic voice; this persona of doom; an expression of my darkest fears ... I wish that it were not so readily adopted. I wish that it were more clearly "playing the fool" ... but my wishes are confounded by a great and dreadful uncertainty ... I wish that my cry could be: "Hail the brave", but my doubts cloud my mind... so I sink to playing petty, trivialising language-games, because I no longer know what matters and what does not ...

w_t_payne 13y ago

Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in: https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-June/008815.html https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-J...