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That's not what I was getting at. I was suggesting that pointing the finger of blame at one person, and placing the onus on them - and asking them to resign is

That's not what I was getting at. I was suggesting that pointing the finger of blame at one person, and placing the onus on them - and asking them to resign is a little shortsighted. Expecting the problem to just vanish is merely wishful thinking. Is he or is he not the establishment, that's probably another debate in itself. I'm over the pond here, so I can't quite grok the American reaction to the recent news over this Prism stuff. I'd expect the Hacker news community to be pissed, but what's the general feeling over there?

Loughla 13y ago
what's the general feeling over there? Mostly people fall into two categories: ignorant or apathetic. Either people watch too much national news, and don't really hear this story, or if they do know about it they don't believe it's that big of a deal. Here in the midwest, "I have nothing to hide" is a popular comment.
- Amadou 13y ago
  There are all kinds of intellectual arguments against the "I have nothing to hide" excuse, but the argument itself is emotional - "I am a good person, bad things do not happen to good people." We need examples, emotional heart-string tugging examples of good people who had something to hide and suffered because it was exposed. I don't have any off the top of my head, but perhaps someone has already realized this and started collecting them somewhere on the web?
  - inthewind 13y ago
    Ithttp://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay-before-you-do.html http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay...
  - inthewind 13y ago
    Related: http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay-before-you-do.html http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay... One nice point raised in that article is the feeling of encroachment on personal space. Going somewhat OT, sorry no concrete examples for you... Like other's have said the thought that you are being watched is like being in a panopticon, or having God looking over your shoulder. Which might of course curb some people from doing wrong, but could stifle exploration and expression of our multiple personas on the web. Some laws are easy to get on board with, others are not. You could kill your career with something like the exposure of drug taking. There's the possibility of smear campaigns (if the data falls into the wrong hands). Did anyone hear about the news of the world police bribing scandal in the UK? You might loose your job, if you are found to have certain political or organisational leanings. You could find yourself the target of ethnic cleansing. Those that have nothing to hide, probably feel right now that they are on the right side of the law. Perhaps you could identify 'criminals' by asking for a show of hands for those that 'have nothing to hide', and lock up the rest. We all have a few skeletons in our closet, it might be nice to get these out there and seek repentence, but sadly some people are just not so tolerant, forgiving, or able to not pass judgment. And sometimes it's best to just bury these things.

Loughla 13y ago

what's the general feeling over there? Mostly people fall into two categories: ignorant or apathetic. Either people watch too much national news, and don't really hear this story, or if they do know about it they don't believe it's that big of a deal. Here in the midwest, "I have nothing to hide" is a popular comment.

Amadou 13y ago
There are all kinds of intellectual arguments against the "I have nothing to hide" excuse, but the argument itself is emotional - "I am a good person, bad things do not happen to good people." We need examples, emotional heart-string tugging examples of good people who had something to hide and suffered because it was exposed. I don't have any off the top of my head, but perhaps someone has already realized this and started collecting them somewhere on the web?
- inthewind 13y ago
  Ithttp://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay-before-you-do.html http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay...
- inthewind 13y ago
  Related: http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay-before-you-do.html http://americablog.com/2013/03/facebook-might-know-youre-gay... One nice point raised in that article is the feeling of encroachment on personal space. Going somewhat OT, sorry no concrete examples for you... Like other's have said the thought that you are being watched is like being in a panopticon, or having God looking over your shoulder. Which might of course curb some people from doing wrong, but could stifle exploration and expression of our multiple personas on the web. Some laws are easy to get on board with, others are not. You could kill your career with something like the exposure of drug taking. There's the possibility of smear campaigns (if the data falls into the wrong hands). Did anyone hear about the news of the world police bribing scandal in the UK? You might loose your job, if you are found to have certain political or organisational leanings. You could find yourself the target of ethnic cleansing. Those that have nothing to hide, probably feel right now that they are on the right side of the law. Perhaps you could identify 'criminals' by asking for a show of hands for those that 'have nothing to hide', and lock up the rest. We all have a few skeletons in our closet, it might be nice to get these out there and seek repentence, but sadly some people are just not so tolerant, forgiving, or able to not pass judgment. And sometimes it's best to just bury these things.