7 ms·

I think we (everyone who participants here on Hacker News) have to learn how to be smart freedom fighters who can use nonviolent methods to overthrow dictatorsh

I think we (everyone who participants here on Hacker News) have to learn how to be smart freedom fighters who can use nonviolent methods to overthrow dictatorships if we are to have any hope of reversing these trends, whether the snooping comes from governments directly or indirectly through poorly guided business corporations. We can't win this fight by imagining violent revolutions. Dictators become dictators by being practiced in using violence to gain power. We probably can't learn enough about violent means soon enough to overcome a slide to dictatorship in any country. I advocate nonviolent means to fight dictators for two reasons: I don't like seeing my innocent neighbors get killed, and I have seen nonviolent means work to overthrow dictators. The largely peaceful transition from martial law and one-party dictatorship to pluralistic rule by law with free press and free elections that I saw in Taiwan[1] is just one example of a people power revolution where the dictator was baffled because there were few violent incidents on the part of the opposition to stir up a violent response from the regime. There are other examples from around the world. An organization that collects real-world advice on how to win freedom even under dictatorship nonviolently, and how to keep the revolutionary movement from turning into another dictatorship, is the Albert Einstein Institution founded by Gene Sharp, an occasional nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. I have recommended before here on Hacker News that readers who are really, truly interested in winning freedom for themselves and guaranteeing freedom for people around the world ought to read the free, downloadable materials on the Einstein Institution website.[2] If you are not willing to learn the art and craft of forging a cohesive, effective resistance movement based on real-world examples, this is all just talk. Talk is cheap. I know actual freedom fighters who succeeded against dictators whose techniques included total control of all mass media with "prior restraint" of publication and complete domination of the country's education system and targeted assassinations of opponents. The dictators still lost. You (we) can win, but only if you (all of us) learn to fight effectively. That doesn't take violence. Winning in a people power democracy movement does take mental toughness, because the dictator's side could use violence, but always the people outnumber the rulers. The people just have to learn how to stand together, overcoming their own fear. Start your reading with From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation if you are wondering where to start among the several handbooks on the Einstein Institution website. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5985720 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5985720 [2] http://www.aeinstein.org/downloads/ http://www.aeinstein.org/downloads/

forgottenpass 12y ago
I think we (everyone who participants here on Hacker News) have to learn how to be smart freedom fighters who can use nonviolent methods to overthrow dictatorships if we are to have any hope of reversing these trends I'd settle for the HN crowd stopping scooping up gobs of data under a "it's different when I do it" copout. But even that much won't happen. (por exemplo the inevitable rationalizations in reply to this comment)
- meowface 12y ago
  I don't think it's necessarily the scooping up of data that's scary. If you use a service, the service has a right to collect certain data about you. It only becomes an issue when the company behind that service has its hand in many pies and correlates all of the related data, or worse, if they share or sell that data to other entities.
  - Retric 12y ago
    If you collect data, your government can quietly collect it from you.
    - cinquemb 12y ago
      If you collect data (and create a walled garden around it through various superficial methods increasingly easier to bypass at scale, so that "only" you can access/leverage it to the fullest without having to go through such artificially erected barriers), your government can quietly collect it from you (and access/leverage it to the same extent). If you collect data, and it was made accessible to everyone to access and leverage to the fullest if they choose, … ?: "Information Asymmetry and Power in a Surveillance Society" http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/53109/1/MPRA_paper_53109.pdf http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/53109/1/MPRA_paper_53109.pdf "This paper has engaged in a wide ranging discussion around the issues of information asymmetry in contemporary life. We have examined the relationship between such asymmetries and how power is ineluctably interrelated to such imbalances. Within this, we demonstrated how key technologies and techniques have been, and continue to be, employed to deepen and widen the information gap. Unsurprisingly, we note that there are marked differences between those who inhabit the opposite banks – we are witnessing an entrenchment of power and information within a small, exclusive group on one side while the general population bears the weight of evermore intrusive surveillance. One potential,and possibly democratic, move would be to ensure that knowledge is spread more equally and transparently.[…]"

forgottenpass 12y ago

I think we (everyone who participants here on Hacker News) have to learn how to be smart freedom fighters who can use nonviolent methods to overthrow dictatorships if we are to have any hope of reversing these trends I'd settle for the HN crowd stopping scooping up gobs of data under a "it's different when I do it" copout. But even that much won't happen. (por exemplo the inevitable rationalizations in reply to this comment)

meowface 12y ago
I don't think it's necessarily the scooping up of data that's scary. If you use a service, the service has a right to collect certain data about you. It only becomes an issue when the company behind that service has its hand in many pies and correlates all of the related data, or worse, if they share or sell that data to other entities.
- Retric 12y ago
  If you collect data, your government can quietly collect it from you.
  - cinquemb 12y ago
    If you collect data (and create a walled garden around it through various superficial methods increasingly easier to bypass at scale, so that "only" you can access/leverage it to the fullest without having to go through such artificially erected barriers), your government can quietly collect it from you (and access/leverage it to the same extent). If you collect data, and it was made accessible to everyone to access and leverage to the fullest if they choose, … ?: "Information Asymmetry and Power in a Surveillance Society" http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/53109/1/MPRA_paper_53109.pdf http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/53109/1/MPRA_paper_53109.pdf "This paper has engaged in a wide ranging discussion around the issues of information asymmetry in contemporary life. We have examined the relationship between such asymmetries and how power is ineluctably interrelated to such imbalances. Within this, we demonstrated how key technologies and techniques have been, and continue to be, employed to deepen and widen the information gap. Unsurprisingly, we note that there are marked differences between those who inhabit the opposite banks – we are witnessing an entrenchment of power and information within a small, exclusive group on one side while the general population bears the weight of evermore intrusive surveillance. One potential,and possibly democratic, move would be to ensure that knowledge is spread more equally and transparently.[…]"