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Let's call a spade a spade here. Government's don't care even a little about protecting their people with the surveillance bills that come from events like this

Let's call a spade a spade here. Government's don't care even a little about protecting their people with the surveillance bills that come from events like this. They're just using events as an excuse to grab power from the people. We all know that. If they did care, they'd be pouring money into driver-less cars to reduce road fatalities. Let's stop even attributing decency and sense to government actions and just admit they're power grabs. The EFF is already probably too aggressive/extreme in their messages for most of the public, so I see why they say it this way. But we don't have to be PC about it. This article should be titled "Governments, please mar the trajectory at Charlie Hebdo by claiming you care about it."

knowaveragejoe 12y ago
Some of what you said carries merit but it overall smacks of rash overgeneralizations. Most government actions start with good intentions at heart, but they are often gamed and manipulated to personal benefit by those capable of doing so. Also, we can agree that much less should be spent on intelligence activities, but pouring money into driverless cars is a terrible example of what they "should" be spending money on.
- DickingAround 12y ago
  It's fair that I'm not providing enough evidence here. I think we'd both agree they good intentions when they outlawed unpasteurized milk or made a patent system. It's hard to get clear evidence on intentions, but recent laws about internet surveillance of Americans that are justified by saying the prevent terrorism are pretty clearly not about terrorism. Before terrorism, there was the cold war, before that there were countries that might invade us, etc. History is littered with lies from governments about why they spy on their own citizens and most of the time governments and government officials seem to do it for their own gain and protection. In this sense, it's fair to assume the people doing it now are also doing it for that reason. Also, I'll admit I don't want them doing driverless cars either, but it would at least be clearly intended to reduce fatalities. Perhaps medical research is a better example? You tell me.
thibauts 12y ago
I would have been tempted to use "making" in place of "using".
qj4714 12y ago
These types of comments point to the problem which is a fundamental lack of trust between government and its citizens. Democracy, or any other type of government, cannot function if people do not have a basic trust in public institutions. Of course, government needs to earn that trust.

knowaveragejoe 12y ago

Some of what you said carries merit but it overall smacks of rash overgeneralizations. Most government actions start with good intentions at heart, but they are often gamed and manipulated to personal benefit by those capable of doing so. Also, we can agree that much less should be spent on intelligence activities, but pouring money into driverless cars is a terrible example of what they "should" be spending money on.

DickingAround 12y ago
It's fair that I'm not providing enough evidence here. I think we'd both agree they good intentions when they outlawed unpasteurized milk or made a patent system. It's hard to get clear evidence on intentions, but recent laws about internet surveillance of Americans that are justified by saying the prevent terrorism are pretty clearly not about terrorism. Before terrorism, there was the cold war, before that there were countries that might invade us, etc. History is littered with lies from governments about why they spy on their own citizens and most of the time governments and government officials seem to do it for their own gain and protection. In this sense, it's fair to assume the people doing it now are also doing it for that reason. Also, I'll admit I don't want them doing driverless cars either, but it would at least be clearly intended to reduce fatalities. Perhaps medical research is a better example? You tell me.

thibauts 12y ago

I would have been tempted to use "making" in place of "using".

qj4714 12y ago

These types of comments point to the problem which is a fundamental lack of trust between government and its citizens. Democracy, or any other type of government, cannot function if people do not have a basic trust in public institutions. Of course, government needs to earn that trust.