“Those who do not move
do not notice their chains.”
― Rosa Luxemburg
If we survive long enough … eventually the people of this planet will come to the realization that WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF THIS PLANET … and then we will take responsibility for our welfare. And surely one of the things we will do – is to declare that war is illegal.
But for now we are still in the awkward stage – we really haven’t made up our mind to survive. We lack hope … and we lack unity.
We all agree that killing is wrong (& illegal) … and that people get killed in wars; but we have not yet declared war to be illegal.
Of course we all realize that every municipality assumes this responsibility (of establishing a police force to protect people … and to see that laws are obeyed)
We don’t have World Peace yet … because we don’t (yet) want it.
It’s bound to come though … (simply) because it’s the only option that makes any sense.
And we now find ourselves IN THE DIGITAL AGE. And our relationship with that fact is similar to our relationship with realizing that we are ALL A SINGLE FAMILY.
And so – we are in (yet another) awkward stage regarding our relationship with our Personal Data.
That’s why we are currently in the GOLDEN AGE OF SURVEILLANCE. – We have the technology. (and virtually NO regulation) The public is largely ignorant. And we have not yet (as a society) grappled with the situation … to understand it … and then balance our need for information (for purposes of legitimate protection against real dangers) against the cost to our privacy (particularly the cost to our most vulnerable people)
Here is a good introduction –
(Edward Snowden on the Importance of Privacy, [3 ½ min.])
Also this –
And there’s more here –
(Edward Snowden “Data Security and Privacy in the Age of Surveillance”, [1 hr. 22 min.])
Snowden says that will solve our problems by choosing to … and through engineering (rather than my laws) Though I think we should try to humanize our laws.
We should be aware of what has already happened … and we should try to understand our (current) situation. –
(Chris Wylie [on CNN] : ‘We tested Trump slogans in 2014’, [20 min.])
Part of our Situation is that there unscrupulous companies (people) which/who are altogether willing to manipulate electoral outcomes … for a fee.
(I have read that these Grey Men first appeared during the Napoleonic Wars … when certain bankers began to exploit war … for profit (not interested in the outcome of the war. Just a means to make money)
There is a remarkable (apparent) difference between the poor toothpaste salesman Alexander Nix here –
(Cambridge Analytica boss under fire from MPs)
…
and the Alexander Nix here –
(Alexander Nix of Cambridge Analytica – on ‘Big Data’ and Psychographics and their use in elections)
[It strikes me that Nix and Trump are quite similar … in that they are both quite willing to pretend WHATEVER they think they may be able to get away with … and have NO loyalty to the truth.]
Is this what it means … to be a Modern Man?
We need to figure out … what we need to do – so that our Personal Data is not misused (used against us).