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Its the same people that want to cut benefits for "those people", etc. The simple fact of the matter is, the people making these decisions are members of a pri

Its the same people that want to cut benefits for "those people", etc. The simple fact of the matter is, the people making these decisions are members of a privileged class of people that see any other class of people as "those people". Building a better technical solution is only a partial solution. All technical solutions will have flaws that can be exploited given sufficient financial resources being expended at the task. We need to replace our government.

osivertsson 12y ago
Replace our government with what and how? What is the timeframe? Technical solutions can be implemented now. Formal methods can be used to prove correctness. The number of flaws could be cut by a factor 1000 I'd imagine when thinking of the current state of code running on devices connected to the internet.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Building a better technical solution is only a partial solution. All technical solutions will have flaws that can be exploited given sufficient financial resources being expended at the task. History has demonstrated that this is true of social/political solutions, as well (unsurprising, as these are really "technical" solutions in a different domain of technology.) > We need to replace our government. This is occasionally a good solution for existing problems, but quite often -- even when the government in question is far worse than our current one -- the cure ends up at least as bad as the disease. So, with any such call, one must demand a detailed accounting of "with what do you wish to replace it" that stands up to scrutiny not just of its theoretical attractiveness but its ability to be established and operate as intended in the world that actually exists and the people that are actually in it.
- opendais 12y ago
  I mean vote against the sort of politicians that empower these people and contribute to lobbies that are pro-privacy/civil rights.
  - a3n 12y ago
    Lots of people voted for Obama exactly because he said or implied that he would rein these people in, yet he's done nothing but ramp up, and add drone strikes. Now what? Vote for the next guy who says he's going to rein this in?

osivertsson 12y ago

Replace our government with what and how? What is the timeframe? Technical solutions can be implemented now. Formal methods can be used to prove correctness. The number of flaws could be cut by a factor 1000 I'd imagine when thinking of the current state of code running on devices connected to the internet.

dragonwriter 12y ago

> Building a better technical solution is only a partial solution. All technical solutions will have flaws that can be exploited given sufficient financial resources being expended at the task. History has demonstrated that this is true of social/political solutions, as well (unsurprising, as these are really "technical" solutions in a different domain of technology.) > We need to replace our government. This is occasionally a good solution for existing problems, but quite often -- even when the government in question is far worse than our current one -- the cure ends up at least as bad as the disease. So, with any such call, one must demand a detailed accounting of "with what do you wish to replace it" that stands up to scrutiny not just of its theoretical attractiveness but its ability to be established and operate as intended in the world that actually exists and the people that are actually in it.

opendais 12y ago
I mean vote against the sort of politicians that empower these people and contribute to lobbies that are pro-privacy/civil rights.
- a3n 12y ago
  Lots of people voted for Obama exactly because he said or implied that he would rein these people in, yet he's done nothing but ramp up, and add drone strikes. Now what? Vote for the next guy who says he's going to rein this in?