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From talking to some non-tech people about this, I have a dim view of the possibility that Snowden's revelations will change anything on a political level. Peo
by acabal 13y ago
From talking to some non-tech people about this, I have a dim view of the possibility that Snowden's revelations will change anything on a political level. People seem to either not care about the power the NSA has over them, or think Snowden is a traitor that deserves death and that's enough to invalidate anything he might have revealed. Society forgets history--generations of born-here Americans have never lived in a totalitarian state, and thus don't have the frame of reference to understand why the NSA's power could lead to grave harm.
But I still do have hope, and the community at HN exemplifies it. Even if politics and society won't change enough to prevent further spying (or, on the scale of decades, a worse NSA-fueled catastrophe), at least all the smart techies of the world are growing aware, getting outraged, and getting organized over what's been revealed. In many ways, our real control over technological progress is the best we can ask for.
If you know how to program, if you're thinking about learning, if your business depends on the internet, or if you're otherwise in a position to create technology of any flavor: the responsibility is on you--on us--to shape the internet and future technology in a way that will protect humanity's privacy and civil rights for generations to come.
- ceol 13y ago> generations of born-here Americans have never lived in a totalitarian state, and thus don't have the frame of reference to understand why the NSA's power could lead to grave harm. Are you sure it's not just that the only people currently talking about this issue are white, college-aged, middle-to-upper class American men? And for you to whip that out, I really hope you aren't one of the born-here Americans you talk about, because you would be just as bad as the people who supposedly don't care: you would be appropriating the experiences of the underprivileged to back your own, unrelated endeavor.
- bobbydavid 13y agoThe extreme demographic subset you described doesn't even include the audience at HN. Surely you realize that the issue of internet privacy is talked about by more people. And why mustn't acabal be a "born-here American" to suggest that Americans have never lived under a totalitarian state? That's an off topic remark designed to call acabal's expertise into question as a means of discrediting them without directly addressing the points they bring up. I think acabal brings up a valid point. It's hard to whip people into action when they're not yet having direct negative consequences, even if we can clearly see the writing on the wall. People are resistant to change.
- ceol 13y agoIt's not an off topic remark, because acabal brought it up himself. He's the one who talked about born-here Americans not knowing the beginnings of totalitarian states, and if you can't see the problem with a born-here American talking about totalitarian states without actually having experienced it, and using it to back his argument, there really is no point in furthering this conversation.