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Congress Mulls China's Networked Authoritarianism

eldavojohn writes "Rebecca MacKinnon tipped her hand about her congressional statements on China and how much Americans are invested in China's censorship, delivered today at a hearing on 'China's Information Control Practices and the Implications for the United States.' In an attempt to describe what China is pioneering, she coins the term 'networked authoritarianism.' Of most concern was Baidu, which has two Americans on its board of directors (out of five) as well as a lot of funding from American investors and mutual funds. From her testimony (PDF): 'As I have described in my testimony, the Chinese government has transferred much of the cost of censorship to the private sector. The American investment community has so far been willing to fund Chinese innovation in censorship technologies and systems without complaint or objection. Under such circumstances, Chinese industry leaders have little incentive and less encouragement to resist government demands that often contradict even China's own laws and constitution.' Is Congress genuinely concerned or are they just curious how they can make 'networked authoritarianism' work for them?"

156 comments

  1. Congress Is Right by Haffner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh man, I can't wait until we get networked authoritarianism too! That internet killswitch idea was a step in the right direction but this is so much better!

    --
    "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." ~General Norman Schwarzkopf
    1. Re:Congress Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. That is one of the most leading questions on slashdot lately. Tabloid journalism at its finest.

    2. Re:Congress Is Right by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The fact is that Western companies are making money by selling China technology to stomp on basic rights. We can dicker all day about what exactly that means, but what it boils down to is a combination of "we are just following orders" and "money trumps human rights". Greed and cowardice, the very pillars of modern corporatism.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Congress Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I imagine that most of the the U.S. government, down to the city level, is just salavating over the Chinese system.

    4. Re:Congress Is Right by slick7 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The fact is that Western companies are making money by selling China technology to stomp on basic rights. We can dicker all day about what exactly that means, but what it boils down to is a combination of "we are just following orders" and "money trumps human rights". Greed and cowardice, the very pillars of modern corporatism.

      You fail to see the business model. American business sells the Chinese all our technology so they can convert it to a draconian system of repression and suppression, the American business will then sell the rights to the American system to the Chinese (hello Baidu, so long Google) with a killswitch!
      A perfect scheme, total usurpation of the American way by foreign competition on the cheap. Wait until the bonuses come rolling in.

      --
      The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
    5. Re:Congress Is Right by jgagnon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is nothing modern about greed, especially the corporate/government variety.

      This continues to be the same fight through all of history between the "haves" and the "have nots". Those who have money and/or power doing as much as they can for as little as they can in an effort to make more money and gain more power. If they just happen to help other people make a living along the way, so be it. Sure, some do this to help their fellow man, but the vast majority do not have that as a primary focus or goal. For the majority, it is all about money and power.

      The primary difference we have today is that of corporations replacing the role of governments of the past. Corporations span the world and have become the new empire while governments continue a downward spiral into meaninglessness. Expect a lot of years of fighting in this war.

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    6. Re:Congress Is Right by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      IIRC, when Putin seized the TV stations, he brought in an American company to manage them.

      The President is constitutionally charged with making foreign policy. Congress is constitutionally charged with approving treaties and passing laws.

      If you want it, they will put a stop to it. China may do it anyway themselves, but at least the US can stop its citizens directly from helping, and can put a huge, heavy hand on other countries and companies (especially ones that also do business in the US.)

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    7. Re:Congress Is Right by elucido · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Governments are war machines. They don't care about anything else. Rights can be used to help win wars but the purpose of all national governments is to function as a war machine. If you care about rights then you should support the UN.

    8. Re:Congress Is Right by jgagnon · · Score: 1

      Except that much of the executive and legislative branches are "owned" by corporations, foreign and domestic...

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    9. Re:Congress Is Right by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Governments are war machines. They don't care about anything else. Rights can be used to help win wars but the purpose of all national governments is to function as a war machine. If you care about rights then you should support the UN.

      When the UN decides that giving a monopoly on force to governments is a bad idea, I might consider supporting them more than I do. Right now, they look like they just want to be a bigger government (and hence, by your definition, a bigger war machine).

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    10. Re:Congress Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How exactly is the UN immune to your notion of how governments all function as war machines?

    11. Re:Congress Is Right by elucido · · Score: 1

      Governments are war machines. They don't care about anything else. Rights can be used to help win wars but the purpose of all national governments is to function as a war machine. If you care about rights then you should support the UN.

      When the UN decides that giving a monopoly on force to governments is a bad idea, I might consider supporting them more than I do. Right now, they look like they just want to be a bigger government (and hence, by your definition, a bigger war machine).

      Thats a very good point. But the UN has no army so they aren't going to become a war machine anytime soon. The UN is more of a police agency combined with a charter. They don't really have power so nation states still control the UN and probably will for a long long time.

    12. Re:Congress Is Right by elucido · · Score: 1

      How exactly is the UN immune to your notion of how governments all function as war machines?

      It's not. It's in the position the US government was in when the US government was still new. Because it's young it seems like it wont be corrupted. Also because the UN has no real competitors there is no real need to have war in the classical sense anymore. Every nation will have war to see who controls the UN.

    13. Re:Congress Is Right by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thats a very good point. But the UN has no army so they aren't going to become a war machine anytime soon. The UN is more of a police agency combined with a charter. They don't really have power so nation states still control the UN and probably will for a long long time.

      And this explains why I should support them?

      Sorry, that they're a government wannabe who supports giving governments a monopoly on force doesn't really convince me of their value....

      Note, by the way, that giving the UN a monopoly on force is not in my interests either....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    14. Re:Congress Is Right by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      The UN is so impotent that it's hard to describe it as a government. It's intentions certainly were, but other than in a few instances, it's just a hotel for diplomats.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    15. Re:Congress Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Modern MERCANTILE corporatism.

      Any statement that ignores that corporations enable government and government enables corporations for both good and evil ignores that human nature/behavior as observed (not how you would LIKE it to be) exists everywhere humans are.

      By pointing fingers at the Evil(TM) corporation (and yes...corporations do lots of Evil) as the source of majority Evil in the world it ignores the fundamental fact that PEOPLE are responsible for everything and PEOPLE abuse concentrated power wherever it is, Corporations AND Government.

      Solution: there is none. Like I said, human nature is as it is observed and not what you would like it to be. A successful system that involves humans (in anything) must conceit this fact to have a snowball's chance in hell of doing anything good over whatever long term you think is necessary.

      Distributing power structurally within a society is the only way to SLOW DOWN this trend (sorry, you can't stop it).

    16. Re:Congress Is Right by OldHawk777 · · Score: 1

      US/EU politicians and C*Os will make 'networked authoritarianism' work for them, because of religious-patriotic needs/fears of the clueless semi-illiterate many.

      --
      Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
    17. Re:Congress Is Right by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 1

      while governments continue a downward spiral into meaninglessness.

      Meaninglessness? I think not. Governments serve a very important and vital function of protecting the corporations by enacting laws and regulations that serve as a minor annoyance to mega-corps but an impenetrable wall to potential small businesses and individual competition.

      On top of that once a mega corp becomes "too big to fail" they are allowed to tax the citizens via bailouts.

      Government makes all this possible.

    18. Re:Congress Is Right by jgagnon · · Score: 1

      While I used the term "meaninglessness" to describe the net result of the current trend, putting it in other words: as mega corporations gain power governments lose power. Whether or not governments will truly ever cease to exist and be replaced by mega corporations is entirely a subjective analysis of any given situation. When one only exists to serve the other then you can bet that one of them is effectively meaningless.

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    19. Re:Congress Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We can dicker all day about what exactly that means, but what it boils down to is a combination of "we are just following orders" and "money trumps human rights".

      Dicker? I hardly even know her.

    20. Re:Congress Is Right by SteveFoerster · · Score: 1

      Because it's young it seems like it wont be corrupted.

      Maybe the UN doesn't seem like it would be corrupted to a retarded fool, but most people with any ability of observation can see it's worse than useless.

      --
      Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
    21. Re:Congress Is Right by sjames · · Score: 1

      If they just happen to help other people make a living along the way, so be it.

      The problem is, the haves have always viewed any help they accidentally give the have-nots as an undesirable leakage. Through manipulation of government and ever more advanced accounting, they have gotten better and better at plugging up the leaks. That's why Regan's trickle-down economics failed. That's why the regular people have been in increasing debt and feeling increasing economic pressure year after year even when "the economy" is booming.

      Simply put, too many "leaks" have been plugged. It's why the GDP/capita is now several times what it was in the '60s yet middle class families now need 2 full time incomes rather than just one and certainly can NOT now afford 2 houses and 4 cars.

      Note that wealth can only concentrate at the top so much and then the society collapses (often through a revolution).

  2. Both by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is Congress genuinely concerned or are they just curious how they can make "networked authoritarianism" work for them?"

    I thought it was pretty clear at this point, our elected officials are two-faced pricks, whining about freedom everywhere else while doing everything they can to ruin it at home to "protect children" or "stop tourists".

    1. Re:Both by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Funny

      "stop tourists"

      So the Gulf oil spill was an inside job? Senator Robert Byrd threatened to talk, that's why he had to go. It's all starting to make sense now!

      --
      My work here is dung.
    2. Re:Both by MadKeithV · · Score: 1

      Of course. This is the first major victory in the war on Tourism.

    3. Re:Both by watermark · · Score: 1

      Think of the children, stop the tourists with their fancy nikons.

    4. Re:Both by elucido · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "stop tourists"

      So the Gulf oil spill was an inside job? Senator Robert Byrd threatened to talk, that's why he had to go. It's all starting to make sense now!

      I don't have any evidence to support any of those conspiracies and neither do you. So why bring that up? To discredit me? Did I reveal too much of the truth?

      This is the problem. We hide the truth to maintain a false reality. We maintain the false reality to keep young naive kids believing, hoping, having faith in government and it's power. Government does not exist to for any reason other than to gain power just as corporations only exist to profit. Accept it.

      If you accept it you can still recognize that governments are essential. Let's just not kid ourselves and lie to ourselves to convince ourselves that our government is perfect, or that our government has some sort of divine ideology, or that it's anything more than an entity that was created for, designed for the sole purpose of winning wars. It's essentially a war machine.

    5. Re:Both by interval1066 · · Score: 1

      "stop tourists"

      Yes, lets stop the tourist scourge. (?)

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    6. Re:Both by fishexe · · Score: 1

      I thought it was pretty clear at this point, our elected officials are two-faced pricks, whining about freedom everywhere else while doing everything they can to ruin it at home to "protect children" or "stop tourists".

      Either you mean "stop terrorists", or your profound logic went way over my head.

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    7. Re:Both by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      Senator Robert Byrd threatened to talk, that's why he had to go.

      You're cutting it kind of close in being "too soon" with a comment like that. It's barely been 22.4 years since Sen. Byrd passed away.

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    8. Re:Both by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 1

      This is the problem. We hide the truth to maintain a false reality. We maintain the false reality to keep young naive kids believing, hoping, having faith in government and it's power. Government does not exist to for any reason other than to gain power just as corporations only exist to profit. Accept it.

      No, the problem is that people like you attempt to summarize a complex and flawed system as existing "for any reason other than to gain power", then implying that anyone who disagrees with you is out of touch.

      The US Government certainly was not "designed for the sole purpose of winning wars", nor are we particularly effective at it.

      Pretending that the US Government is some monolithic entity with no purpose other than to serve itself is every bit as naive as believing that it's a completely benevolent and just system devoid of corruption and waste.

  3. "Hands on is a must". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now, they figure it out!

  4. in this thread by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Insightful

    will be a bunch of whines about their government selling out its principles to corporate influence, and how nothing can stop chinese policy, and this is our future, and we live in a corporatocracy...

    and every single person making that comment, modding that comment up, or reading and nodding their heads ARE PART OF THE FUCKING PROBLEM

    believe the world can be better. believe it. but if you only have that same tired easy typical empty cynicism that things are only getting worse, or that none of this situation can be changed YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM

    yes, corporations and authoritarianism threaten your freedoms. the only question is: what the fuck are YOU going to do about it? if it is nothing but whine and ACCEPT THE STATUS QUO, then you are part of the fucking problem with what is wrong with this world. YOU ARE

    there will always be threats to liberty and freedom. always, forever more. the existence of your liberties is a constant maintenance problem, forever. it is never, and never was, a concept that is fought for once, and then never worried about again. so now it falls on your shoulders form previous generations who actually fought for the legal status quo you enjoy. what are you fucking going to do about it?

    the only question as to how far threats to your freedom goes is how far those who wish to defend the notion of liberty will push back. but if you don't push back, you just fucking whine and complain and accept with the typical lazy easy pessism and cynicism, and you want to know where your freedom went,

    look in the fucking mirror

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      So I guess what YOU decided to DO about the problem is whine and bitch about the people who whine and bitch about the problem? That's definitely a huge step up over whining and bitching about the problem, although it falls significantly short of what I've decided to do about it, which is whine and bitch about the people who whine and bitch about the people who whine and bitch about the problem. Don't worry though, pretty soon someone will start whining and bitching about my whining and bitching, and as soon as someone starts whining and bitching about them, we should, I believe, have ourselves a solution.

    2. Re:in this thread by divisionbyzero · · Score: 1

      Nice. If I had mod points I'd give them.

    3. Re:in this thread by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 1

      Spot on. Further, I think that the privatization of this whining and bitching is at fault. We need to create a United States Department of Whining and Bitching at the cabinet level, with a Secretary of Whining and Bitching reporting to the President about the current status of whining and bitching in the nation at large. Only when whining and bitching is being actively ignored at the highest levels will those hypocritical fucktards who whine and bitch about others who whine and bitch finally be satisfied.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    4. Re:in this thread by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      It's a lot of hypocritical bullshit unless he actually says what he's doing different, which he does not.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    5. Re:in this thread by 2obvious4u · · Score: 1

      Although I agree with your sentiments, I don't see a way to implement them. I mean the war on drugs is a direct assault on personal liberty and those that try and defend their rights are assaulted. I'm not for murder, but people who find drugs to be acceptable and then are confronted by authority who then defend themselves are considered murders and villains; however they are just practicing what you preach. In a psychotic way the drug cartels are defenders of liberty, but you wouldn't advocate us taking up arms to defend that freedom; the freedom to consume what we choose to.

      So yeah, I agree with your ideas, but I don't think you've thought them through. We sacrifice liberty every day, not for security, but because it is easier than taking personal responsibility.

    6. Re:in this thread by jc42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      yes, corporations and authoritarianism threaten your freedoms. the only question is: what the fuck are YOU going to do about it?

      Well, personally, I intend to continue doing what I (and a few thousand others, many of whom are friends of mine) have been doing: I'll continue to find ways to develop the Net into something that, as John Gilmore so elegantly put it, treats censorship as packet damage and routes around it. This approach can be (and has been) done at all levels of the hardware and software stack. Identify the damage, and find alternate ways of getting the data through. Don't worry about whether the contents are "good" or "bad"; that's for the endpoints in the exchange to decide. As a developer of the Net's components, our job has been to just Get The Data Through.

      It was understood from the start that a lot of damaged or lost data packets are because of hostile action. Dealing with enemy action was an important part of [D]ARPA's original requirements for the ARPAnet. Remember that it was built mostly with military funding. The idea was to build a comm system that would Get The Data Through despite efforts of assorted enemies to block it. Those enemies were understood to be government agencies, typically of a different government. But the developers didn't spend too much time on such mundane details. It was understood that there were assorted forces, natural and man-made, that would attempt to block or destroy data in transit. Lightning, bombs and court orders can target your routers or antennas. It was the job of the developers to find (partial) solutions to this general problem and Get The Data Through.

      Actually, it probably helped a lot that the developers didn't concentrate on any particular kind of "enemy". If they had done so, the result would probably be a lot less robust than what we have now.

      There was one major part of the original design that hasn't been well implemented, and it's a source of a lot of our current problems: The ARPA/Internet was supposed to be multiply interconnected as much as possible. The more alternate routes there are, the more likely it is that the system can find good paths. Multiple paths means that you can route around congestion, and give faster results even during busy times. And multiple paths means that the enemy trying to block your data has a much more difficult job, since the software can find alternate paths and route around the blocking.

      But this is an implementation detail. The important thing is that developers continue to work on solving the general problem of "Get The Data Through". Congestion, blown fuses, storm damage, and political censorship are all special cases of the general problem that we're trying to solve.

      The best approach is to just continue working on this problem. Any tools we have to solve it will help solve the censorship problem as a side effect.

      In the long run, China's attempts to limit their population's access to information will mostly hurt their own economy. To be part of the future world, China needs strong network connectivity to the whole world. The better that connectivity is, the more difficult it will be for them to block their citizens' access to information of any sort. This isn't because of explicit attempts to block censorship; it's because a good network is so interconnected that the software can always find a good way to Get The Data Through.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    7. Re:in this thread by regularstranger · · Score: 1

      You sure are doing a lot of whining and bitching. Would you be willing to lead this organisation you suggest?

    8. Re:in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Political activism doesn't feed one's family. Doing things for the good of the whole of mankind, or even the nation, sounds good, but it's hard to prioritize such things over the more immediate concerns of ones self and family. Sure, it can be argued that refusing to act can potentially jeapordize ones family and livelihood, but taking time away from ones career and family to act WILL jeapordize ones family and livelihood.
       
      Therein lies the problem- those who can spare the time and resources to make a difference don't feel the need to, and those who most feel the need to act are the least able to do so. Solve that problem before you spout out at others for lack of action.

    9. Re:in this thread by DocHoncho · · Score: 1

      By Jove I think you've cracked it! It's Whining and Bitching all the way down!

      --
      Celebrity worship is a poor substitute for Deity worship and costs more to boot.
    10. Re:in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      corporatocracy

      Lets not make up new words and call it what it is. We live in a fascist state. Look up the meaning of fascism. Making up new words like corporatocracy just hides the truth.

      Welcome to Nazi Amerika!

    11. Re:in this thread by divisionbyzero · · Score: 1

      It's a lot of hypocritical bullshit unless he actually says what he's doing different, which he does not.

      How so? Since we *don't* know what he's doing we don't know whether he's being hypocritical.

      Your sig on the other hand we do know is complete bullshit but that's only relevant within the context of what we do and do not know.

    12. Re:in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right on "circle"- "mess" square

  5. anybody thinking NSA etc.. not using this? by kubitus · · Score: 1
    we have a new CIO from the US. First thing: all routers and switches to be from one certain US company.

    '

    Next thing all PCs to be from one US company, as well as servers etc..

    - ever heard of a Trojan boot loader?

    there was once a nice article in popular science describing a made-up Xerox making Super8 images of all photocopies

    which was rented to the USSR embassy. ( and they did not say to whom else )

    -

    Think they stopped doing this?

  6. For us little people by AnonymousClown · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For the ethical investor, there are two possible responses to this problem. One is divestment from all ethically challenging situations.

    OK, I'll have to pull my money out of all investments because I can find an ethical problem with everything. That doesn't server me. Selfish? Tell me that when I'm older and on government aid - your tax money - because I don't have a pot to piss in.

    The other is engagement and advocacy, using financial leverage to work for positive change in industry practices and even government regulation.

    Nobody will listen to a nobody with only a few thousand dollars in their mutual funds. They won't even listen to someone with a few million invested. Giant multi-billion dollar multi-national corporations really don't have to listen to anyone.

    How much business is Google really losing? China is a Third World country. Most of their population is a bunch of farmers living in poverty. Advertising to most of them is pointless. And the Chinese in the big cities? How much is that business worth.

    And in the process of this "protest" they're getting quite a bit of good PR.

    --
    RIP America

    July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    1. Re:For us little people by hierofalcon · · Score: 1

      Corporations have annual meetings. Each company has a process by which you can get a shareholder proposal presented at the meeting. Sometimes there are thresholds for how many shares you have to own, but these are usually very low. There is also usually a requirement to actually show up at the meeting to present the proposal, which entails additional cost.

      Granted, in most cases there aren't enough votes to get a stockholder proposal passed, but sometimes it happens. Regardless, there is a mechanism in place for large companies to listen. You will actually have to be a stockholder rather than owning some tiny fraction of a mutual fund, but it can be done. Every stockholders vote counts the same. If you think you have a legitimate beef, write a well written proposal as free of hyperbole as you can and present it. You might be surprised. The results are binding on the corporation, whether they like the outcome or not.

      And yes, I know that most mutual funds vote with management and there are a vast number of stockholders that just vote with management as well. But there are a few of us who actually take the time to look at the proposals, read about the directors who are up for election and try to only vote for people who might be an asset rather than are holding a honorary position or have ossified in their position and need removed from office and go play with their grandchildren. There is an increasing movement to try to reign in corporate handouts to management as well in terms of stock options and golden parachute packages, but those move slowly. If you fail one year, try to listen to the comments at the meeting and do better next year. Remember that you will get much further with actual evidence of problems rather than generalizations.

    2. Re:For us little people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess they are as third world as the US was in the late 19th century.
      Wait for the 500 million middle class people, with middle class expectations change that.

    3. Re:For us little people by mckinnsb · · Score: 1

      For the ethical investor, there are two possible responses to this problem. One is divestment from all ethically challenging situations.

      OK, I'll have to pull my money out of all investments because I can find an ethical problem with everything. That doesn't server me. Selfish? Tell me that when I'm older and on government aid - your tax money - because I don't have a pot to piss in.

      Let's just cut to the quick here, RE: your comment title. She isn't referring to the "little people", or individual investors. By "ethical investor", she is referring to people who have control over millions of dollars of investment money - people who work in the financial sector who may not necessarily be millionaires themselves - a.k.a institutional investors, or the people who run the mutual funds which fund your retirement.

      I agree that here, she uses the term "ethically challenging" in a broad way, but given the context of her testimony, I think that it's very clear that she is referring to investments which may undermine free speech, and our belief in it. There are many, many lucrative investments which do not do either.

      The other is engagement and advocacy, using financial leverage to work for positive change in industry practices and even government regulation.

      Nobody will listen to a nobody with only a few thousand dollars in their mutual funds. They won't even listen to someone with a few million invested. Giant multi-billion dollar multi-national corporations really don't have to listen to anyone.

      That's not what she means by 'leverage'. By leverage, she means financial laws which provide incentives or deterrents for people engaging in 'free speech' and 'censored' investments, respectively.

      How much business is Google really losing? China is a Third World country. Most of their population is a bunch of farmers living in poverty. Advertising to most of them is pointless. And the Chinese in the big cities? How much is that business worth. And in the process of this "protest" they're getting quite a bit of good PR.

      Whoa there buddy. China isn't quite a Third World country. Parts of it may resemble one, but they've got a full fledged middle class and everything now, a pretty hefty GDP, and a few cities that are more modern than any in the United States.

      In addition, lots of those 'farmers living in poverty' that you refer to are picking up shovels or pick-axes and are headed to the big city, getting jobs in construction, demolition, or in factories. There is a full-scale urban migration going on, and although some people are purposefully holding on to their rural lifestyles, few farmers in China are ignorant of the massive amount of change that is being effected in their country by foriegn investment. A friend of mine, who has spent extensive time in China, says that there are two common expressions in China: "xian dai hua" and "luo huo". The first means "Modern", and the second "Lagging behind." These statements are spoken not only in the streets of Shenzhen, but also the in the farms of Western China. Lots of farmers want to be a part of the "xian dai hua" world, and advertising to them is not pointless at all; especially in this type of transition period, where a positive mark can have an impact that will last for generations.

      Finally, she has a real point in suggesting that we are too easily compromising our own ethics by bowing to the wishes of the Chinese government, when in reality, dollars coming from (mostly) Western foreign investments - from cultures that support and recognize the value of free speech - are the ones empowering said Chinese government. We should take a slight step back, because if the way in which we spend our dollars can somehow effect a better life for the Chinese citizen and net us profit along the way, we should absolutely do so.

  7. Leave the USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    As shown in your 2000 elections, 48.4% of americans are intelligent. Let those 48.4% move north to Canada or south to Mexico and let the now-corrupt USA rot away. Your founding fathers would be ashamed of today's USA and so should you.

    1. Re:Leave the USA by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, the "Intelligent" Americans are dying to get into Mexico.

      You're an even bigger idiot for assuming that 48.4% of Americans voted for Bush. No, 48.4% of Americans who voted, voted for Bush.

      Also, it's Americans, not americans. Do you ignore your spellcheck on purpose? I'm going to assume you don't have one, get one.

      Go back to the hole you came from Troll. Who the fuck mods this prick Insightful?

    2. Re:Leave the USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The mods probably read the "Your founding fathers would be ashamed of today's USA and so should you" part.

      You were just too busy with your "Americans-with-capital-A" and voting percentage facts to actually understand the true meaning of what I said.

    3. Re:Leave the USA by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      You have no meaning, you're being a partisan dip shit.
      If you want to complain about someone destroying the Constitution that our Founding Fathers have set up, look no further than the Obama administration and the current "Democratic" congress.

      I don't like Bush, I don't like Obama, and I don't like Clinton either.

  8. Government is all about winning at any cost. by elucido · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The US Government must win. Lives are on the line. If the US Government loses than many people protected by the US Government could be killed. The US Government therefore cares only about winning wars and battles. The easiest way to win is to maximize control over land, sea, air, information, human resources, etc.

    I don't particularly like this fact but it's just how it is. Winning the war is all they care about and in some cases they don't even care about that. Winning is defined as winning militarily which means having the most power. This is not the same thing as having the most liberty or protecting the Constitution. Politics are about power distribution, war is about power distribution, money is about power distribution, and to win you must have might.

    1. Re:Government is all about winning at any cost. by SirVirtual · · Score: 1

      "Winning the war is all they care about and in some cases they don't even care about that...." The drug war is a perfect example. The SAY they want to win but don't really care because if they DO win or make MJ legal, look at all the govm't employees that will be out of work. The US gov makes war because it helps corporations make money - that simple!

    2. Re:Government is all about winning at any cost. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hello.. "Government" is defined in the constitution and the bill of rights as " we the people" . When "we the people " and "Government" become two separate entities then the Constitution demands for revolution. Enough said.

    3. Re:Government is all about winning at any cost. by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      lol wut

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    4. Re:Government is all about winning at any cost. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. The government of a nation will (in most cases) act in what it thinks is the best interest of its people. I think that the problem with China, and to a lesser extent, the US, is that the government underestimates the intelligence of its people. They act as if the people are sheep, limiting the information they have access too, hoping to steer them into a similar direction (which they consider to be ultimately better for the nation and its people).

      Well, it worked before, why shouldn't it work now? It's a tried and true way of ruling that's been around for awhile, but it seems to have problems to adapt to the technological evolution of the past decade in terms of communication. With almost everyone having access to almmost every piece of information, it's very hard to control the flow of information. And people get pissed off when they see they've been lied to, and they seem to find out more and more these days.

  9. parallels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Congress Mulls China's Networked Authoritarianism....and finds that it closely parallels their own turn-over-as-much-taxpayer-cash-as-possible-to-multinational-corporations authoritarianism :)

    (yes, i _am_ saying that once elected they do as they damn well please)

  10. I've been saying this for years by CAIMLAS · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've been saying this same essential thing for years, though instead of calling it "networked authoritarianism" what I've called it is "cyberpunk corporate feudalism".

    The corporations control everything in today's world. Sure, the governments still have their military, but corporations operate within the nation states largely autonomously and often in partially parasitic relationships: if the corporation doesn't like the environment, it leaves.

    Corporate relationships change much in the same way as nation-states and fiefdoms did during the Middle Ages: smaller gets absorbed by larger, larger breaks into smaller, and the larger ones fight against each other - but for everyone looking on, nothing substantial really tends to change.

    States, and the people living within them, don't really have much (if any) sway over these corporations. They operate under their own rules (only in so much as they don't get caught). In essence, they're operating as the countries of the later Middle Ages did towards the Holy See - except the State is God. They'll do whatever they can get away with, and if the state finds out or protests, they'll just leave - or take over.

    --
    ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    1. Re:I've been saying this for years by khallow · · Score: 1

      The corporations control everything in today's world. Sure, the governments still have their military, but corporations operate within the nation states largely autonomously and often in partially parasitic relationships: if the corporation doesn't like the environment, it leaves.

      This again. Here's my take. What is the ultimate corporation? Has the most people under its sway, most power, and the most assets? It's a government. I don't know why you insist on speaking of "corporations" rather than "governments" when it's clear that the latter is the problem (at least when you speak of groups of people controlling other groups of people, most corporations are pretty harmless).

    2. Re:I've been saying this for years by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Corporations have become the invisible hands that control the governments. We're not talking so much about The Coca Cola Bottling Company, here. We're talking about corporations like:

      Exxon Mobil
      Monsanto
      General Motors
      Nestle
      JP Morgan & Chase
      AT&T
      Verizon
      Microsoft
      WalMart

      Sure, these corporations (and ones like them) are the biggest targets of anti-capitalist sentiments. But these guys have incredible sway at the local level (far dwarfing the political power of a medium-sized city, to be certain) as well as unprecedented power at the state and national levels due to their distributed power. In many cases, the absence of one of the above would impact people more negatively at the local level than the absence of state/federal powers. This isn't just a US or Western thing; it's fairly global.

      And then you've got the silent giants - the ones nobody sees, the holding groups and conglomerates like Cerberus and Time Warner. These are insidious, as they've got a lot of sway not due to their hold in an industry, but because of their non-trivial holdings in many, many different industries: retail, real estate, finance, automotive, news/media, firearms, etc. The larger ones could likely make most states fall, and many smaller states through inaction alone.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    3. Re:I've been saying this for years by khallow · · Score: 1

      Corporations have become the invisible hands that control the governments.

      Uh huh. That explains stuff like cap and trade, health care, environmental and safety regulations, and all the other really expensive populist junk that the developed world does for their corporate masters. If I were a corporate master, I'd make sure government cost me plenty of money too. Sure you can find someone powerful in the business world who benefits from this stuff. There's always somebody. BUT there's also a lot of other powerful businesses that don't benefit because they just see higher costs and more work, no benefit. Yet it happens anyway.

      There's another explanation here. Government is the one holding the leash. And corporations while powerful aren't the only game in town.

  11. It's just election year bullshit by jfoobaz · · Score: 1

    Nobody in congress really cares about China's policies towards their own people. It's just something they like to trot out occasionally to show they believe in liberty.

    They won't ever actually do anything but pass a non-binding resolution condemning the situation, after which they'll get back to making it easier for us to buy cheap shit from China.

  12. Next logical step. by Aphoxema · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The government is full of competitors, people who fight for their "right" to rule. The next logical step is to force your views on the playing field and try to protect the integrity of your memes.

    Other politicians are risk enough, but it's the vast number of citizens who can cause real change if they wanted. That's why politicians want the people who take orders from them to be the only ones with guns. Now that the internet is a serious threat because of the power it gives to people that shadows the threat of guns.

    --
    "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    1. Re:Next logical step. by elucido · · Score: 1

      The government is full of competitors, people who fight for their "right" to rule. The next logical step is to force your views on the playing field and try to protect the integrity of your memes.

      Other politicians are risk enough, but it's the vast number of citizens who can cause real change if they wanted. That's why politicians want the people who take orders from them to be the only ones with guns. Now that the internet is a serious threat because of the power it gives to people that shadows the threat of guns.

      At this point change is not an option and might not necessarily be for the better. Change usually requires civil war and then revolution. This usually requires millions of people to fight and die. This instability can lead to foreign countries like Russia and China and their agents taking over key stations in government. It could lead to a foreign country taking over the USA and then we'd really be in for a change when the national language is changed to mandarin or russian, even french.

    2. Re:Next logical step. by characterZer0 · · Score: 1

      If another country took over the USA, I would wager that it would cause an influx of new words relating to government and politics and the new rulers would either learn English or get displaced by revolution or new invaders.

      See Norman conquest.

      --
      Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
    3. Re:Next logical step. by elucido · · Score: 1

      If another country took over the USA, I would wager that it would cause an influx of new words relating to government and politics and the new rulers would either learn English or get displaced by revolution or new invaders.

      See Norman conquest.

      Thats a possibility but it would still mean millions of Americans would have to die. And there is no guarantee that the new government will be better than the old government. The new government might see us all as slaves. The new government might be like Hitlers government, or Stalins.

    4. Re:Next logical step. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The government is full of competitors, people who fight for their "right" to PARTY!

      Fixed that for you:)

    5. Re:Next logical step. by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 1

      And there is no guarantee that the new government will be better than the old government.

      There was no guarantee that the US entering WWII would result in a victory for the Allies. We did it anyways.
      There was no guarantee that the Apollo moon program would provide anything of benefit to society. We did it anyway.
      There was no guarantee that 13 colonies could overthrow British rule. We did it anyway.
      There was no guarantee that Ghandi or MLK's civil disobedience campaigns would result in any type of change. They did it anyway.
      There was no guarantee that overthrowing Czarist Russia would result in a better system of government for the working class. They did it anyway.
      There is no guarantee that you getting out of bed every day will do anything but get you killed. You do it anyway.

      The steady progress of human society, at all levels, personal and grand, occurs because people take risks, people shed blood, people try something new, and people have the balls to do ridiculous things like love, care, laugh, smile, hate, cry, and fight.

      In short, stop making up excuses for being a pussy.

    6. Re:Next logical step. by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

      It could lead to a foreign country taking over the USA and then we'd really be in for a change when the national language is changed to mandarin or russian, even french.

      Interesting possibilities on the languages I might have to learn should I survive the invasion, but I think it's far more likely I'll have to learn Spanish.

      Much of Central and South America lack the sense of law and order people in the US have and the opportunity to freely alter the political map of the continent would bring millions.

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    7. Re:Next logical step. by sjames · · Score: 1

      Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The Roman empire kept the lid on change for a very long time and eventually just fell apart with a little push from outside. The French Aristocracy tried that but got toppled. In the '30s, the U.S. got to a boiling point but in the end compromise w/ the workers helped keep it together.

      Change IS an option now, but only if the leaders can wake up to the reality that the can either embrace it or bottle it until it explodes all over them.

  13. Governments don't have principles. by elucido · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Governments have military objectives. These objectives could be to secure the middle east. To win the war in Afganastan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan etc. To protect Isreal. To isolate and defeat North Korea. To beat the Soviets.

    It has nothing to do with principles. Principles are useful to help you win. Principles are a tactic, a means to an end rather than an end in itself. The only principle is to win. Winning means to protection national security. To maintain super power status. To protect the national interest. This usually means to control global resources, to control information, to control land, sea, air, and to maintain control over all assets.

    It's fine if the government thinks this way but it's not right for the government to lie to it's own people, even it's own soldiers about why they fight. It's only the exceptionally smart or exceptionally experienced who figure out how it really works. It's not about principles and all about power. Nationalist vs Nationalist is what it's about. The US Nation against the Russian or Iran or North Korea or China or whomever challenges US global dominance. It's that simple.

    1. Re:Governments don't have principles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ignorance of some /. posters never ceases to amaze me. You give an opinion yet never state any proof or cite any references.

    2. Re:Governments don't have principles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's not that simple. Nation-states are not homogeneous entities acting of one will, striving against one another. Autocracies may have a more homogenized will if one or only a few are calling the shots (and there a dictator needs to take care to avoid a coup), but that's not the case in the United States. Different interest groups will put pressure on Congress and the President, and these pressures will have an impact on foreign policy (including military aggression). These interests may not necessarily neatly correspond with national boundaries.

      Your theory vastly oversimplifies complex, dynamic interactions.

  14. little blue numbers by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Informative

    Western companies making a buck off evil? Nothing new.

    Infamous Auschwitz Tattoo Began as an IBM Number

    Auschwitz Phone Book Shows IBM Hollerith Buro Phone # 4496
    In August 1943, a timber merchant from Bendzin, Poland, arrived at Auschwitz. He was among a group of 400 inmates, mostly Jews. First, a doctor examined him briefly to determine his fitness for work. His physical information was noted on a medical record. Second, his full prisoner registration was completed with all personal details. Third, his name was checked against the indices of the Political Section to see if he would be subjected to special punishment. Finally, he was registered in the Labor Assignment Office and assigned a characteristic five-digit IBM Hollerith number, 44673.
    The five-digit Hollerith number was part of a custom punch card system devised by IBM to track prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, including the slave labor at Auschwitz.
    The Polish timber merchant's punch card number would follow him from labor assignment to labor assignment as Hollerith systems tracked him and his availability for work, and reported the data to the central inmate file eventually kept at Department DII. Department DII of the SS Economics Administration in Oranienburg oversaw all camp slave labor assignments, utilizing elaborate IBM systems.
    Later in the summer of 1943, the Polish timber merchant's same five-digit Hollerith number, 44673, was tattooed on his forearm. Eventually, during the summer of 1943, all non-Germans at Auschwitz were similarly tattooed.

    http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=663

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:little blue numbers by stanlyb · · Score: 1

      The funny part is that you, and me, and everybody else has 4-digit hex number. For example, your number is: 513215 (decimal). What do you think will be changed in another hundred year? Maybe instead of hex base, it will be 256-base system? The gods are laughing.

    2. Re:little blue numbers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was good of IBM to help Germany solve it's problems. We seem to be having a lot of the same ones. Maybe IBM could help us too?

  15. corporations are the invisible hand. by elucido · · Score: 1

    The corporations and government go together as hand in glove. The corporation is merely the glove and the government the hand that controls the glove. The corporation's CEO very well could be a spy for some government. So you wonder why some corporations don't care about the American people? Maybe because they are owned and controlled by foreign powers.

    The rest of what you say is correct. But it's economic espionage, economic warfare, corporate warfare, and the dollar is the ultimate weapon at this time.

  16. yes, i understand cynicism by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Interesting

    and cynicism is a fine philosophy until you figure out that principles actually do exist, because some people actually believe in them, and these people are the only ones who ever make a difference or matter

    everyone else is as you describe: parasites playing the system, the status quo, stasis. but if the world is nothing but parasites, and no host, then the parasites die: nothing gets better, natural decay leads us to worse, and the parasites certainly won't labor to make our situation any better

    so understand your place in the world because of the words you have written: a parasite, and understand why your life has no meaning or dignity

    or understand there is no pride or happiness or anything of value in what you believe, and stop being such a fucking parasite

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:yes, i understand cynicism by mjwx · · Score: 1

      and cynicism is a fine philosophy until you figure out that principles actually do exist,

      But what you describe isn't cynicism, it's pessimism and I'd say as a philosophy it's worked OK for the Russian people for a few hundred years. Cynicism is the idea that nothing is ever as good as it is made out to be, pessimism is the idea that nothing is good.

      To elaborate,
      Pessimism is "I can't believe that no matter what you show me".
      Cynicism is "I don't believe that until I see evidence".

      The idea that people have principals is not foreign to cynics, it's the evidence that people stick to their stated principals that is foreign and unheard of to cynics and believe me, there is nothing a real cynic likes more then to be proven wrong. Pessimists don't like you pointing the holes in their arguments, cynics will just argue with you until they are satisfied with the conclusion whatever it may be. A cynic is a optimist who has been slapped by reality too many times.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  17. They are concerned about China's influence. by elucido · · Score: 1

    Chinese influence around the globe concerns them. If China can control information in China then the USA can't control information in China. It's a matter of which country has the control not a matter of whether one country or another believes in having it. They both want it and are fighting over who controls information just as they fight over who controls land, sea, air, money, and everything else. And that is what governments were invented for.

    Governments are war machines.

  18. R & D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US Government is outsourcing its R&D to the Chinese. How long before they don't even need the kill switch ?

  19. Principles exist in individuals only. by elucido · · Score: 1

    Governments do not have principles. Governments are war machines. Corporations are profit machines. The employees and soldiers have principles but thats for their personal lives and not for their work life.

    You can have principles, just keep them to yourself and share them in your private life. In your public life or corporate life principles don't really exist. It's all about winning.

    1. Re:Principles exist in individuals only. by Anonymous+Struct · · Score: 1

      ...?

      Okay, so why the National Park Service? Is that where we hide the nuclear missiles?

      You're making the mistake of concluding that since governments wage war, that's all they do. Governments exist to manage shared resources. Ten people live on a lake, and one day, one of them decides to start draining it so he can sell the water. The other nine get together and stop him, and everybody decides to agree that nobody exclusively owns the lake. Voila. A new government is born.

      Just because the military is a shared resource doesn't mean it's the only one. It's just the only one you're thinking about right now.

    2. Re:Principles exist in individuals only. by elucido · · Score: 1

      ...?

      Okay, so why the National Park Service? Is that where we hide the nuclear missiles?

      You're making the mistake of concluding that since governments wage war, that's all they do. Governments exist to manage shared resources. Ten people live on a lake, and one day, one of them decides to start draining it so he can sell the water. The other nine get together and stop him, and everybody decides to agree that nobody exclusively owns the lake. Voila. A new government is born.

      Just because the military is a shared resource doesn't mean it's the only one. It's just the only one you're thinking about right now.

      But why do we need federal government to do that? The UN could do it, a big NGO could do it, why the federal government? And even when the federal government does it, it's not designed for it.

    3. Re:Principles exist in individuals only. by Anonymous+Struct · · Score: 1

      But why do we need federal government to do that? The UN could do it, a big NGO could do it, why the federal government? And even when the federal government does it, it's not designed for it.

      Because the Federal Government is beholden to the people who own the resources, namely us. I don't get to elect the people at the UN, and NGOs don't answer to me. Even if I did get to elect people at the UN, my interests as an American are poorly represented by a large world government. The resources here belong to me as a citizen of this nation, so I want representation in how they're managed. The Federal Government isn't some random thing that was dropped on our heads. It exists because we're a sovereign nation with a need for some kind of central and united governance. It was concocted in order to address real problems that people living in large societies have, just like every other national government on the planet.

    4. Re:Principles exist in individuals only. by elucido · · Score: 1

      Because the Federal Government is beholden to the people who own the resources, namely us.

      Maybe in a perfect democracy but thats not what we have. The US Government is owned by whomever controls the money and whoever owns the treasury bonds. The US citizens do not own the treasury bonds and are tax payers/soldiers at best for the people, entities and nations who do own the treasury bonds. What this means is that Americans do not own those resources, those resources are owned by whomever the US Government owes money to. How do you think the US Government will pay the debt?

      I don't get to elect the people at the UN, and NGOs don't answer to me.

      And neither does the US Government. The US Government answers to foreign bond holders, just as a corporation answers to it's shareholders. Your interests are rarely considered. Do you think you are someone special?

      Even if I did get to elect people at the UN, my interests as an American are poorly represented by a large world government.

      Your interests as an American aren't represented in any big government. Not the Federal Government, not the UN, not the big corporations that you arent a shareholder in. You can vote but does it look like any of these people operate in your best interest? The only way to influence the Federal Government is to form a union and have enough members and money that you can buy a massive amount of US treasury bonds and other vital assets that you can try to bargain with. You have to be a collective special interest group with a stake in the US Government to even get noticed.

      The resources here belong to me as a citizen of this nation, so I want representation in how they're managed. The Federal Government isn't some random thing that was dropped on our heads. It exists because we're a sovereign nation with a need for some kind of central and united governance. It was concocted in order to address real problems that people living in large societies have, just like every other national government on the planet.

      That is very wishful and in my opinion credulous thinking. You have no influence unless you have the ability to use carrot and stick. If you don't own any treasury bonds you cannot threaten to sell them. If you don't have enough collective wealth to buy treasury bonds you cannot promise to bail the US Government out by buying them. You aren't funding the war, so you wont profit from the results of conquest.

      The land is owned by the US Government and the US Government is owned by whomever funds it.

  20. Out on a limb? Hardly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is Congress genuinely concerned or are they just curious how they can make "networked authoritarianism" work for them?"

    I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say the latter.

  21. @AnonymousCoward by elucido · · Score: 1

    The ignorance of some /. posters never ceases to amaze me. You give an opinion yet never state any proof or cite any references.

    The USA has supported dictatorships which have abused human rights. The USA has used and will continue to use human rights abuses such as torture as a tactic to achieve victory. If you think my statements are made in ignorance, why don't you explain why the secret prisons where torture goes on exists at all? Why don't you explain why free speech doesn't really matter or why not even the Constitution is allowed to get in the war of military success?

  22. Evil money can be washed and become good. by elucido · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There is no real good and evil dollar. There is just dollars. In the end the team which has the most of them decides what is good and what is evil for the people who have the least of them.

    1. Re:Evil money can be washed and become good. by stanlyb · · Score: 1

      There is no real good or evil human, it is just a human...... I don't know for you, but for me you sound kind of unconvincing.

    2. Re:Evil money can be washed and become good. by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There is no real good and evil dollar. There is just dollars. In the end the team which has the most of them decides what is good and what is evil for the people who have the least of them.

      If I'm a manufacturer of hand tools and someone buys one of my axes and uses it to chop up his family, that's awful but I'm really not at fault here. I can put a sticker on future axes that says "Please don't chop up your family with this tool" but it's not my problem. If I'm a manufacturer of industrial shredders and there's a rich gentleman in Columbia who has one installed on his estate and my technicians keep having to get sent out to service it because there's a lot of meat and gore stuck in the thing, this is the point where I get to question just what the hell I'm supporting here. Whatever that guy's doing on his estate, I'm enabling it. Plausible deniability? Bullshit.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    3. Re:Evil money can be washed and become good. by elucido · · Score: 1

      There are good and evil humans. Corporations aren't human. Dollars aren't human. The corporation and the dollar are weapons used by good or evil humans. Depending on the team that controls the best weapons decides the fate of the world.

    4. Re:Evil money can be washed and become good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regarding the first issue: the problem, now, is that manufactures can do BETTER. With the right setup, we can trace what happens with all goods manufactured. If every time my axes are used to kill someone, the police report it back to me, and each axe has a serial number, I can figure out where the problem lies. If the axes are all being bought by one guy, I can put the word out to all my distributors and retailers not to sell to him (and stop selling my goods to distributors and retailers who sell to him after the warning.) If I find out that all the murders occurred by different people, but all with axes from one part of the supply chain, I can sever my relationship with that part of the supply chain (or otherwise take appropriate action).

      I wouldn't say that the axe manufacturer was bad for not keeping better track of the goods they sell, but I'd say they could do better, and be better members of the community. Your axe manufacturer is kinda like the people who live in a community, pay their taxes, and don't break any laws; but don't join the neighborhood watch, don't work in the community garden, don't attend the regular town hall meetings, or otherwise try to be better members of the community.

    5. Re:Evil money can be washed and become good. by penguinchris · · Score: 1

      In case you were wondering, some of us did appreciate the License to Kill reference :)

  23. I'm not laughing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you check, there's some rather *odd* "coincidences" with stock moves related to this entire incident, and our great friends, the champion of the "little people" out there around the planet, at goldman sachs, are right up there in the thick of it.

  24. The only cowards are the chinese government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only cowards are the chinese government who use censorship to try to protect their power. The truth will set you free.

  25. classic life philosophy failure by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Interesting

    so many people who believe "this is the way life is" actually believe "this is the way MY life is"

    the boundaries and limitations they perceive on themselves, they think apply to other people. they don't

    what principles you believe in matters. for example: ghosts don't exist. but if you believe in ghosts, it alters your behavior, and therefore, your belief in ghosts matters. if enough people believe in ghosts, human society (not the natural world, but we're not talking about that: define your terms) is altered to match this

    human society is self-emergent phenomenon. it is bound only by what people believe, not just natural laws. this makes it very powerful. if i believe in clothing, cities, electrical wires, court systems... then this is what i will live in, instead of a cave. this applies to technology... and principles of society

    if you believe in something like, say, human dignity, that matters. you can say human dignity doesn't exist, and that's true, according to mother nature. she'll kill you in the most brutal sudden insulting ways, and carry on in a blink, your entire existence a forgotten joke. but in the realm of human society, belief in human dignity alters behavior such that human dignity becomes a REAL (in the bounds of human society) concept. people grieve. they write songs about your passing, they build pyramids: human dignity is a principle, and its effects are palpable, and so it matters

    there also exists cynics, like yourself. they don't alter society, as a consequence of their own beliefs in not mattering. they live in the shadows, feeding off the positive efforts of others. they won't contribute: they don't believe in contributing to causes, but they're happy for the clothing, the cities, the electrical wires, the sense of justice, the notion of freedom, the human conscience, that others full of belief labored to build into edifices of human society. they're dead weight, they're parasites. they'll say your life has no meaning, but they won't apply that principle to themselves. they still love to live, a life that supposedly has no meaning, according to their words: hypocrites

    those laboring under beliefs and principles are defining human society are actually making substantial differences. while those who simply sit there and deny that the effort matters in the end, only define the terms under which they themselves don't matter in the end

    what you believe in comes to define your reality. so if you believe in nothing, you define your existence as nothing (but not my existence). your lack of faith and belief does not limit me, only you. meaning is a proof positive venture. so if you put nothing positive forth, your meaning is emptiness. that you have chosen, not me. but if i state my meaning as something that other people can understand and grasp and coordinate with me, then our meaning in life becomes the fruit of efforts laboring under a system of belief that we define. and that becomes real. the pyramids: someone built them, because someone believed in them. this boundary of belief, or lack thereof, is the only real limitation we labor in our entire lives. that you choose to believe in nothing, and do nothing, means you leave behind nothing... but the pyramids still exist. because someone believed in them. and your lack of belief did not negate them. you've only negated anything you could have done yourself

    that's your place in this world: please understand that the callous limitations you have defined in human society are only limitations on your life. but not on mine. you've described the terms in which your life is empty and without meaning, but you haven't defined the terms under which my life does have meaning. and in the end, i'm the only one who matters, because i leave something positive that others can carry on and invest in further, and so, many generations down the road, you have tremendous societal constructs that millions live under in belief in, whether they be notions of liberty, generosity, freedom, fair play, or any other positive be

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:classic life philosophy failure by elucido · · Score: 1

      so many people who believe "this is the way life is" actually believe "this is the way MY life is"

      There are no government principles. individuals have principles. This is why collectivist government is so dangerous.

      the boundaries and limitations they perceive on themselves, they think apply to other people. they don't

      I wasn't talking about people, I was talking about government.

      what principles you believe in matters. for example: ghosts don't exist. but if you believe in ghosts, it alters your behavior, and therefore, your belief in ghosts matters. if enough people believe in ghosts, human society (not the natural world, but we're not talking about that: define your terms) is altered to match this

      My personal beliefs have nothing to do with the behavior of governments. Governments aren't run by personal beliefs.

      human society is self-emergent phenomenon. it is bound only by what people believe, not just natural laws. this makes it very powerful. if i believe in clothing, cities, electrical wires, court systems... then this is what i will live in, instead of a cave. this applies to technology... and principles of society

      Government is not the place to express principles. Hitler tried that and we see the result of this. Governments are only good at war.

      if you believe in something like, say, human dignity, that matters. you can say human dignity doesn't exist, and that's true, according to mother nature. she'll kill you in the most brutal sudden insulting ways, and carry on in a blink, your entire existence a forgotten joke. but in the realm of human society, belief in human dignity alters behavior such that human dignity becomes a REAL (in the bounds of human society) concept. people grieve. they write songs about your passing, they build pyramids: human dignity is a principle, and its effects are palpable, and so it matters

      I don't believe in torture. I would never torture as an individual. Governments don't believe in anything but military victory. Governments do anything to win including torture.

      there also exists cynics, like yourself. they don't alter society, as a consequence of their own beliefs in not mattering.

      Bin Laden wants to alter society to bring it into accordance with Islam. How does the US Government treat him? How does the US Government treat cult leaders who want to alter society?

      they live in the shadows, feeding off the positive efforts of others. they won't contribute: they don't believe in contributing to causes, but they're happy for the clothing, the cities, the electrical wires, the sense of justice, the notion of freedom, the human conscience, that others full of belief labored to build into edifices of human society. they're dead weight, they're parasites. they'll say your life has no meaning, but they won't apply that principle to themselves. they still love to live, a life that supposedly has no meaning, according to their words: hypocrites

      Change is a violent process. Change costs lives. Unless you are willing to kill and die to bring it about, don't tell other people they aren't contributing or don't do this or that.

      those laboring under beliefs and principles are defining human society are actually making substantial differences. while those who simply sit there and deny that the effort matters in the end, only define the terms under which they themselves don't matter in the end

      Unless you are willing to kill or die for those beliefs why does any of this matter? Lets be realistic here, most people are just trying to survive and live to see tomorrow and the next day. We aren't freedom fighters, we aren't terrorists, we aren't patriots, we aren't gangsters or members of militias. And the people who are these things are the people being tortured in secret prisons, the people b

    2. Re:classic life philosophy failure by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 1

      The people who try to change the world are the first people to be hunted down by the inquisition.

      And that's when the game gets fun. ;)

    3. Re:classic life philosophy failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What an ironic title, "philosophy failure". I am (or try to be) a complete materialist. My "beliefs" have no material effects, only my physical actions have effects in the real world. I choose to help people for a living because I see the effects of that in the real world, not because of some "belief".

      Civilization is a result of "natural laws" (your term not mine). Cooperation leads to better living condition in the real world, better opportunities for reproduction, and expansion of environments we can live in. We don't do it for the sake of "belief", we do it because it works. It's people with "beliefs" who end that cooperation because they think their "-ism" or "-ist" is more real than other "-isms" or "-ists".

      We don't have "clothing, cities, electrical wires, etc..." because we believe in them, that's magical thinking. We have those things because of "cynical" people who do things like hypothesizing, testing, concluding and then sharing those conclusions for others to test. We do those things because they make the real, physical, material world a better place for our real, physical, material bodies to exist in.

      If belief is more important than cynicism to you, I suggest you go back to living in a cave and listening to your shaman. It's "belief" that leads to self-imposed slavery, cowardice and emptiness. Maybe someday you can join the physical world and have a viewpoint that actually matters.

      p.s. why don't you believe in capitalization and punctuation?

    4. Re:classic life philosophy failure by sjames · · Score: 1

      Your beliefs guide your every physical action that has an effect in the real world. You believe that it is right to help people, so you take the physical actions that you believe will do what you believe is helpful to people.

  26. Someone decide... by drumcat · · Score: 1

    What companies are acceptable investments... does anyone know? For example, if I have stock in China Mobile, am I defending a totalitarian monster, or am I encouraging a freer market in a society that is now being opened much more by investment? Am I good for bad that I own stock... oh, you're not sure either?

  27. we should all help china by StripedCow · · Score: 1

    We can all help China by running proxies on our computers. If everybody (or a critical mass) cooperates, there is no way for the Chinese government to block proxy IP addresses (or they will need to effectively shut themselves off from the rest of the world, and that will not happen of course). This could be similar to Tor, except more efficient, because only one hop is needed.
    Also, the development of software for encryption or steganography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography) could help to make network traffic transparent.

    --
    If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    1. Re:we should all help china by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 1

      If everybody (or a critical mass) cooperates, there is no way for the Chinese government to block proxy IP addresses...

      And how will the Chinese people find out what these proxy IP addresses are? And if the Chinese people know what these IP addresses are, doesn't the government know what they are? And can't they block them?

      Don't get me wrong... it's a wonderful fantasy that every problem has a technological fix. However, it almost always has a bit of trouble once implementation begins.

      --
      That is all.
    2. Re:we should all help china by StripedCow · · Score: 1

      Good point. But somehow when it comes to sharing infromation in the form of piracy, there always seems to be a technological solution when some file sharing method is blocked. So why not in the case of censoring in China?

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
  28. Evil Nation by b4upoo · · Score: 1

    I see no reason America should allow any business with China. Their perpetual crimes against Tibet as well as their ongoing use of slave labor should be enough incentive for America to cut the phone lines and isolate China completely. As far as debts to China we should not pay them.

  29. you don't who i am or what i am doing by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    but thanks for the vote of no confidence

    that you vote no confidence, without even knowing me, actually says more about you than it does about me

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:you don't who i am or what i am doing by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Still not hearing what you're doing different, which is why I 'don't [sic] who [you are] or what [you are] doing'. Kind of self-fulfilling, isn't it?

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
  30. so maybe it should have an army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the biggest

  31. there's an assumption there by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    that i need to justify myself to you. who the hell are you? on what authority are you empowered to judge me?

    i'm quite confident in who i am and what i am doing, and i need no approval or justification from you to know that

    especially since you go out of your way to offer me your disapproval, without even knowing a damn thing about me. like i said: that act says a lot about your character, and none about mine

    the world has enough negative judgmental assholes. try something new friend, its a tired boring game, and you only hurt yourself in the end

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:there's an assumption there by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Actually, yes, you do need to have ground to stand on before you criticize others. If I a redneck dumbass who knows nothing about art walks into a gallery and says 'this painting is awful!' Nobody will take him seriously. If a professor of visual arts with years of study, practice, and knowledge walks in and says 'this painting is awful!' People will take notice, want to know why, etc. because that person has standing, has some educated background from which to offer useful criticism rather than a base reaction.

      You say you're confident, but offer no substance, you're just dodging because you're full of shit.

      I go out of my way to offer disapproval?! YOU STARTED A FUCKING THREAD TO TELL EVERYBODY WHAT LAZY GRIPERS THEY WERE! And now you're dodging any explanation of why you don't fall into your own sweeping generalization (criticizing me for not knowing you while at the same time denying to say anything about yourself when directly challenged to do so! self-fulfilling fucking prophecy), and you're trying to act like a fucking victim calling me a negative judgmental asshole over something YOU FUCKING STARTED to be FUCKING JUDGMENTAL of everybody else! You're going on my foes list you hypocrite asshole.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    2. Re:there's an assumption there by regularstranger · · Score: 1

      I find value in circletimessquare's posts. I don't need to know whether he has never left his basement or he has marched alone against an army. It just doesn't matter, because what he says, and the point he is making, is true. Cynicism is self-negating, and if realising that makes me or anyone else get out of the basement and face the wrongs of society, then a valuable purpose has been achieved. You are just offended by it. It does say a lot about you that he has to tell his life story before you would consider his point of view valid. You value the clothing a person wears more than the substance of what they say. If he said he is a decorated veteran (or insert whatever kind of person you respect) , you'd either not believe it, or think that his opinion is suddenly more valuable. The opinion's value does not change because of who said it, but with your replies, you show that you think it does. There are a lot of people out there who won't stand up for their rights, for various reasons. One of those reasons is cynicism. Perhaps you don't like the approach used in the initial post, but I don't like the direction you've gone with your most recent post either. I also don't value the opinion you are expressing with these posts, and it doesn't matter if you are Jesus or Satan*.

      Furthermore, if circletimessquare has never left his basement, he would recognise that he is part of the problem. That is not hypocritical. I'll also say that being cynical and not challenging the status quo is being part of the problem, and there have been many circumstances in my life when I was part of the problem. I will be interested if your reply to this is that you have never experienced such a circumstance. You said that everything circletimessquare said is bullshit, with the exception that he tell you something he does that pleases you. I take it that means you think cynicism and not doing anything are valuable character traits. How can you seriously defend your position?

      * I'm using these metaphorically, not for religious reasons.

    3. Re:there's an assumption there by divisionbyzero · · Score: 1

      Actually, yes, you do need to have ground to stand on before you criticize others.

      Actually, no, he doesn't. All he needs to do is make an intrinsically legitimate criticism. Between this post and the one about him being a hypocrite it's pretty clear that you are unclear on the rules of debate of any kind. Therefore, most of your whinging is mere splutter.

  32. China ain't alone by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

    "Under such circumstances, Chinese industry leaders have little incentive and less encouragement to resist government demands that often contradict even China's own laws and constitution."

    Look in your own backyard, lady.

  33. How much you wnat to bet by countertrolling · · Score: 1

    Google is one of those investors in Baidu? Through a trust of course to hide it. They won't lose a thing..

    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
  34. You have a very limited view point by quax · · Score: 1

    Western democratically elected governments have checks and balances put in place to prevent them from "being solely about war".

    There is a reason why Hitler for instance put away with the Weimar republic before he engaged in war preparations.

    Many of the numerous wars the US fights and fought since its inception are nothing but a testament to how much these checks and balances have been failing the US republic. To extrapolate from this example to all other governments is a fallacy.

    But I give you that - if you limit yourself to dictatorships and absolute monarchies you're statement about these forms of governments being primarily about war is generally true.

    1. Re:You have a very limited view point by elucido · · Score: 1

      Western democratically elected governments have checks and balances put in place to prevent them from "being solely about war".

      There is a reason why Hitler for instance put away with the Weimar republic before he engaged in war preparations.

      Many of the numerous wars the US fights and fought since its inception are nothing but a testament to how much these checks and balances have been failing the US republic. To extrapolate from this example to all other governments is a fallacy.

      But I give you that - if you limit yourself to dictatorships and absolute monarchies you're statement about these forms of governments being primarily about war is generally true.

      If there were checks and balances where is the check and balance on tortures? On secret prisons? On assassinations? There are no "human rights" and there are no "checks and balances." The US government is a war machine whether it's a Republic or something else. It doesn't matter who you vote for, losing is never going to be an option and national security trumps all concerns.

      You can have a Republic or even a Democracy and the military still is going to claim it needs to do certain things to win the war or in the interest of national security. This national security clause trumps everything else and it's like that in all governments that last.

    2. Re:You have a very limited view point by quax · · Score: 1

      I strongly sympathize with your frustration. I regard the US as on a trajectory towards a dictatorial regime. You are not quite there yet. Personal core freedoms remain but the media already lost its independence and is corporate controlled hence the prominence of blogs. The establishment managed to channel the libertarian and right wing anger into the controllable Tea Party movement and disenfranchised progressives are yet not ready to break with Obama.

      I see two paths:

      1. The US continues its slide towards a regime where elections matter about as much as in the Soviet Union.
      2. People will eventually be frustrated enough, as well as informed and organized enough via alternative means such as the internet, to challenge the two party oligopoly.
    3. Re:You have a very limited view point by elucido · · Score: 1

      I strongly sympathize with your frustration. I regard the US as on a trajectory towards a dictatorial regime. You are not quite there yet. Personal core freedoms remain but the media already lost its independence and is corporate controlled hence the prominence of blogs. The establishment managed to channel the libertarian and right wing anger into the controllable Tea Party movement and disenfranchised progressives are yet not ready to break with Obama.

      I see two paths:

      1. The US continues its slide towards a regime where elections matter about as much as in the Soviet Union.
      2. People will eventually be frustrated enough, as well as informed and organized enough via alternative means such as the internet, to challenge the two party oligopoly.

      And thats why they've destroyed the economy and plan to kill the internet. This way you can't speak and can't afford to eat either if they decide you shouldn't. As far as the libertarian movement goes, it has been corrupted all along.

      Alex Jones whom everybody looks up to as a lead libertarian is as establishment as Rush Limbaugh. He is with the big oil establishment and this is made obvious if you look at what he says and what he doesn't say about climate change.He has chosen a side which is personal to his self interest but which is not necessarily in anyone elses self interest. The tea party movement is the same way, they have been bought by the oil cartels.I could name names but I won't do so on this site, anyone who is into investigative reporting could follow the money and see that the tea party along with Alex Jones's network is a commercial enterprise.

      Obama on the other hand is linked to the other establishment network. The climate change network that supports nuclear power over oil. This network also includes the hollywood oligarchs and they want to crack down on the internet to maintain their power. This just happens to result in a loss of free speech which they don't really like anymore than anyone else in the establishment.

      So no I don't think either of those two situations will happen. What I predict will happen is that the USA is going to crack down so hard that the economy is going to continue down into a depression. We are going to see even more crackdowns and eventually other countries are going to take advantage of it. This means other countries are going to grow stronger while America is in chaos.

      I think if we do not have a free press we wont even know whats going on. As a result we will be brainwashed by political foreign intelligence agencies and interests who will give disinformation and become the official media. The reason is because both Fox News and CNN are equally BS at this point. They both want to present a false reality and this is what has opened the door to internet bloggers who are controlled by foreigners who also present false realities.

      The only solution in my opinion is for the US government to present the real reality somewhere in some form that is sophisticated enough so that the people who fight to protect this country can understand it. It's not important if teenage pot smokers in their basement understand whats going on. What is important is that the people actually fighting these wars understand what is going on. When the people who actually are fighting don't even understand whats going on then you have all sorts of problems.

      I don't expect the government to give up any classified secrets. This isn't what I consider important. I expect the government to actually stop lying through the media and paint the true picture of reality to the people fit to handle it. We have Al Qaeda making a magazine now, we have all these different blogs online and the stories they are telling about the war seems more realistic than the bullshit we hear from the government.

      It's just like with BP. You have BP acting like the spill really isn't bad. Telling it's own employees not to wear masks and hiding the fact that they get sick. Telling everyone t

    4. Re:You have a very limited view point by quax · · Score: 1

      ... bloggers who are controlled by foreigners.

      Just for the sake of full disclosure: I am German, my wife is American and I lived in NC for a while. My son was born there. This was around the time that Bush won his second term.

      I couldn't stand living in your country. People have been so blinded to what is going on and the media is such a travesty I decided I didn't want my kids to grow up in this environment. I now live in Canada.

      I hope you're wrong when you write "I don't think there is a solution to this as a nation."

      The US are a great nation despite all its shortcomings. Your country has more to offer to the world than war and always has.

  35. They aren't real board members by maiki · · Score: 2, Funny

    We already settled this. The Western board members aren't real; they're rented.

  36. this is called appeal to authority by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    you can't or are unable to judge my words on their merit or lack thereof

    you only give your approval/ disapproval based on my standing as some sort of authority or not

    i think that logic and reason is a superior way to judge the value of someone's words according to their social hierarchy status, especially in A FACELESS INTERNET THREAD, but that's just me

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  37. Do I have this right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do I have this right? You don't like the UN because it wants to have a monopoly on force yet you don't like the UN because it hasn't got any forces to enact this monopoly on force????

    I think a better summation of your position is "I HATE THE UN!!!!!!".

  38. drug use destroys freedom by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    addiction is bars inside the mind. in orwell's deepest darkest fantasies he couldn't derive a worse authoritarian government that destroys more freedom than drug addiction does... well, unless he had that government forcing people to use heroin or meth. drug use has destroyed more freedom in this world than the entire history of human government

    the fight against drugs is the fight for freedom, and like all fights for freedom, its a maintenance function, and it will never end

    yes, some people freely choose to do drugs. just like some people take the infinite possibilities of life... and choose suicide. is the choice to remove your own freedoms a choice to be respected?

    that's a deep philosophical question right there: does freedom include the freedom to choose to remove your own freedom?

    if someone freely chooses to be a slave, do you respect that choice?

    me, personally i do not respect that: choices to remove freedom are never done in a vacuum, and often wind up removing other people's freedoms as well

    and so, i deny people the 'right" to destory their own freedom. and in this way, i increase freedom in this world. and so i call suicide wrong, and so i call drug use (the most highly addictive/ inebriating drugs, not something mild like marijuana) wrong as well

    drug use is just slow motion suicide, it is self-destruction of freedom. and if you don't see that, you don't know much about drugs

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  39. Who are these companies? by virb67 · · Score: 1

    Is there any web resource that tracks and lists these unscrupulous companies doing business with human rights violators? It would be nice to publicly out these guys.

  40. "The USA has supported dictatorships" by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    which is wrong, and we should fight that

    but you seem to be suggesting that the existence of this fact is a permanent limitation on our ideals, and a reason to stop fighting for what we believe is right

    you use the weight of the world to crush you, and then you suggest to others they will only be crushed as well, so they should just stop fighting and accept

    and so you are part of the problem you complain about: you see abuse, and you accept it

    all that is required for evil to triumph in this world is for good men to do nothing. you are arguing for us to do nothing. so i say to you: shut up, and stop evangelizing your ignorant cynicism

    fight for what is right, or fuck off. but don't tell us it is pointless to fight. then you are just as bad as the evils you dislike: you help them, by accepting them

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:"The USA has supported dictatorships" by elucido · · Score: 1

      which is wrong, and we should fight that

      but you seem to be suggesting that the existence of this fact is a permanent limitation on our ideals, and a reason to stop fighting for what we believe is right

      you use the weight of the world to crush you, and then you suggest to others they will only be crushed as well, so they should just stop fighting and accept

      and so you are part of the problem you complain about: you see abuse, and you accept it

      all that is required for evil to triumph in this world is for good men to do nothing. you are arguing for us to do nothing. so i say to you: shut up, and stop evangelizing your ignorant cynicism

      fight for what is right, or fuck off. but don't tell us it is pointless to fight. then you are just as bad as the evils you dislike: you help them, by accepting them

      I don't have the power to stop abuse. I'm not a billionaire. I'm not a millionaire. I don't have influence. It's just not my role.

      What I can do is make sure I don't abuse people. You can fight if you want but don't expect everyone to adopt the same lifestyle and role. Most people who fight end in jail or dead.

  41. fuck freedom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not going to do a thing about it. The status quo provides enough distraction from the horrors perpetrated by our monstrous species that I can live comfortably numbed to my guilt.

  42. mod parent +6 by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    someone out there gets it

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  43. we are the Last Men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe my life is utterly meaningless, what should I do?

  44. you've chosen self-aware parasitism by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    since you aren't a hypocrite about what you have chosen, i have no argument with you

    enjoy your creature comforts

    just a warning: the distractions lose their power to distract over time. you need stronger and stronger doses to get the same effect. meaninglessness becomes a burden. a guy can live in a penthouse palace and have all the hookers and blow he wants, and yet hate himself and feel emptier inside than he ever had

    the relationship between meaning and happiness is strong

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  45. do what everyone does by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    drug yourself into a stupor with creature comforts: food, sex, empty banter and media, real drugs

    all the time, the meaninglessness becomes a larger and larger burden, and you need larger and larger doses of your creature comfort drugs to cope

    eventually you break down, and make up a meaning for your life, and believe in it. only because its less painful than meaninglessness

    and if you say meaninglessness isn't painful, then you haven't built your tolerance up of your chosen creature comfort drug yet. eventually and inevitably, tolerance builds up to where the creature comfort drugs have no more effect, and you have nothing left to dull the pain, except to choose meaning, once and for all

    so good luck and see you soon in the realm of meaning

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  46. you're quite deluded by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    you don't even understand that what you complain about is the only thing that makes your life possible

    without government, there is no civilization. without civilization, there is no little earnest you tapping away at a computer describing government in hilariously stilted terminology

    i understand that you fear government. you have a nice list of downsides, all of which are real and i do not deny and i can add to even

    now i'd like you to be intellectually honest and examine the upside of government, which through defect in intelligence, perception, or due to massive propaganda, you currently fail to conceive or understand

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:you're quite deluded by elucido · · Score: 1

      you don't even understand that what you complain about is the only thing that makes your life possible

      without government, there is no civilization. without civilization, there is no little earnest you tapping away at a computer describing government in hilariously stilted terminology

      i understand that you fear government. you have a nice list of downsides, all of which are real and i do not deny and i can add to even

      now i'd like you to be intellectually honest and examine the upside of government, which through defect in intelligence, perception, or due to massive propaganda, you currently fail to conceive or understand

      When did I say I was anti-government? or anti-civilization? Of course I fear a government that tortures and kills people. Just as anybody in this world would.

      The upside of government is that without government we would disintegrate into tribal warfare, clan warfare, and gang warfare. There really is no better option.

      But it is the same situation that created federal government, that creates the UN.

  47. What war are we fighting? by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 1

    Cuz I'd like to know when it's ok to stop living in fear and handing complete control over to the government. Or is that a national security secret?

    --
    Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    1. Re:What war are we fighting? by elucido · · Score: 1

      Cuz I'd like to know when it's ok to stop living in fear and handing complete control over to the government. Or is that a national security secret?

      Remember the Axis of evil? Thats who we are at war with.

  48. what's wrong with feds? what's wrong with un? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    what problem do you have with these entities that somehow would be better if they didn't exist?

    i take it you somehow magically believe if there were no feds or no un, whatever you hate that they are doing, wouldn't continue to get done

    truth, moron: whatever it is that you hate that the feds or the un is doing, would still happen in a world without the feds or the un. except now would be even less recourse to fix whatever it is you hate they are doing

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:what's wrong with feds? what's wrong with un? by elucido · · Score: 1

      what problem do you have with these entities that somehow would be better if they didn't exist?

      i take it you somehow magically believe if there were no feds or no un, whatever you hate that they are doing, wouldn't continue to get done

      truth, moron: whatever it is that you hate that the feds or the un is doing, would still happen in a world without the feds or the un. except now would be even less recourse to fix whatever it is you hate they are doing

      When did I say these entities should not exist?
      Yes the federal government is too big and intrusive but I never said it shouldn't exist. I don't think you understand libertarianism. It is not libertarians belief that the feds should not exist, it's that the feds should stick to what they are good at, and thats winning wars.

      You are working with a strawman argument based on stuff I've never said. I never said that the UN shouldn't exist. I never said that governments should exist. Just like I wouldn't say corporations shouldn't exist, or that churches shouldn't exist. I recognize the value and function of these entities.

      The government is the war machine.
      The corporation is the profit machine.
      The church is the faith machine.

      I only have a problem when people try to assign faith to the government and tell people to treat the government as God. Telling people to have faith in politicians and government is wrong. Just like telling people to be loyal to corporations is wrong.

      I think it's better if we keep the functions of these entities focused on what they are good at doing. A war machine might be able to do humanitarian aid, but only in the context of winning the war. It does not have a conscience. The corporation like BP might be able to pay for or do humanitarian aid but it does not have a conscience. Only the church and non profit entities have a conscience.

      So let the conscience organizations do that. Let the war organizations do that. Let the profit organizations do that. And if we need to blend the functions we should rely on NGO's which are government funded.

  49. Just How Many Old People Do You Know? by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 1

    Most people who fight end in jail or dead.

    See, that's utter rubbish. There are scores of old people that have fought for principles and causes that are alive today. Many of them are veterans of one country or another. I happen to know quite a few of them. If you don't like that example, I know of a half dozen authors that are in their golden years that successfully penned creations which went on to change the values and mindset of society. Robert Pirsig comes to mind...Chomsky is also a big one, though not my personal favorite. And then there are the men and women who worked, and continue to work in the space program. They help to embody and spread the virtues of hard work, discipline, and rigorous engineering. They also help to inspire young folk all around the world. Many of the men and women that first worked in the space program back in the 50's and 60's are still alive and not jailed today....

    So maybe it's not a problem with the system, as you seem to think. Perhaps, you just don't know enough old people. But quite frankly, there are a lot of elderly, free, and alive people that have fought and worked for change their entire lives. You're just seeing things through a bitter filter which you imposed on yourself.

  50. you have such a slave's mentality by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    you're probably one of those assholes who if they see a gang beating someone up, you don't even report it to the police: fear of reprisal

    take responsibility for your world, and work for what is right, or be a slave, as you currently have chosen

    the more there are people who think like you in this world, the more the state of the world is misery and poverty and suffering. evil men depend upon slaves like you to stand there and do nothing while they perpetuate transgressions. that really is the truth

    you've sold your conscience. you have declared you won't stand up for what you believe. and if you don't exercise what you say your principles are, then you really don't have any principles

    you're a self-made slave. pathetic

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:you have such a slave's mentality by elucido · · Score: 1

      you're probably one of those assholes who if they see a gang beating someone up, you don't even report it to the police: fear of reprisal

      take responsibility for your world, and work for what is right, or be a slave, as you currently have chosen

      the more there are people who think like you in this world, the more the state of the world is misery and poverty and suffering. evil men depend upon slaves like you to stand there and do nothing while they perpetuate transgressions. that really is the truth

      you've sold your conscience. you have declared you won't stand up for what you believe. and if you don't exercise what you say your principles are, then you really don't have any principles

      you're a self-made slave. pathetic

      If you report everything to the police and you live in the same neighborhood as the gang, the members who aren't arrested will be beating your ass up. Stop trying to give survival strategies for a world you know little to nothing about.

      If I want to clean up the streets because I witnessed a gang beating up somebody I know, I would join the police force and do it properly. I would not become a snitch/informant. I would not pretend like I'm a hero. I would join the police academy, get a gun and a badge and personally police the streets. What you have to understand about this world is that uniforms, authority, and protocol matter. Doing things the right way matters more than following your gut and getting your ass kicked or killed.

      Looking at your signature proves to me that you have no concept of protocol and no respect for authority.

      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it

      Just because a law is stupid, or immoral in your opinion, it does not give you the authority to break or ignore the law. Right and wrong have nothing to do with the law, but whether or not you are a political prisoner has everything to do with whether or not you follow the law. Based on what you are saying you will be going to prison, and if you are an informant you probably wont last in prison unless they put you in a special protective section of the prison.

      take responsibility for your world, and work for what is right, or be a slave, as you currently have chosen

      the more there are people who think like you in this world, the more the state of the world is misery and poverty and suffering. evil men depend upon slaves like you to stand there and do nothing while they perpetuate transgressions. that really is the truth

      You have no concept of risk management. You have no concept of what you are up against. You think you can make up the rules as you go along? It doesn't work that way. Rules that existed before you were born will exist after you die. You can follow these rules and you might have a better chance of making it to 60, 70, or 80+ years old.

      you've sold your conscience. you have declared you won't stand up for what you believe. and if you don't exercise what you say your principles are, then you really don't have any principles

      you're a self-made slave. pathetic

      No I've said I'm not willing to DIE over it. OF course if I have the authority to resolve a situation in an ethical way I'll do so. But if I do not have the authority or resources, my only concern will be survival. I'm not a cop, I'm not a judge, I'm not the President, I'm not a billionaire CEO, I'm just a guy. I know my place in society and what I can and cannot get away with.

      I'm guessing you are a young person who does not yet know the limits of what you can get away with. I hope when you do meet your limitations that it does not destroy you. And if you are able to break through those limits more power to you, I'm not standing in the way of progress.

  51. so when edison sat there by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    staring at a vacuum tube and some tungsten, did he believe in progress, or was he just compelled by the laws of nature and the inevitability of it all?

    actual human beings created the civilized world you live in, whether technology or social compact. and before those things existed, someone believed in it, and made it happen, out of force of belief

    belief matters. plenty of beliefs are without consequence. but not all of them

    look at the man inside the machine, he makes it run. apparently all you can see is the machine

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  52. you would join the police force? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    what a moron

    ever hear of specialization? when there's a fire, i call the professional fireman, i don't start building a hose. leave policework to professional policemen, idiot

    "If you report everything to the police and you live in the same neighborhood as the gang, the members who aren't arrested will be beating your ass up. Stop trying to give survival strategies for a world you know little to nothing about."

    if no one stands up to the gangs, there will be always be gangs

    gangs exist everywhere, but are most potent where there are people who won't oppose them. if they go into a neighborhood and there is fierce opposition to their presence, then the gangs go away, because the police round them up, because the gangs are reported by people who live there

    but if the gangs go to another neighborhood where no one complains as they do their dirty work, they stay there, and the police are stymied in their efforts by lack of cooperation by the citizens there

    figure it out retard: you have to fight gangs, you just have to, to SURVIVE

    if you choose NOT to fight them, then you will always have gangs threatening and menacing you, you live in fear: you are a slave. you can survive a day, sure, but you won't survive longterm, because gangs are gangs: they prey on the weak, and they will get to you at some point or another, until you stand up them to SURVIVE

    or don't, and be their slave

    you are really are a slave, you really do think like a slave

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  53. what a retard by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    yeah, great ideas

    you're truly a modern statesman, you got it all figured out, it's so simple and pat

    (rolls eyes)

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:what a retard by elucido · · Score: 1

      yeah, great ideas

      you're truly a modern statesman, you got it all figured out, it's so simple and pat

      (rolls eyes)

      Anybody who doesnt agree with you must be a retard? Figures you'd make a statement like that.

  54. I believe in honor. by elucido · · Score: 1

    what a moron

    ever hear of specialization? when there's a fire, i call the professional fireman, i don't start building a hose.

    The proper response if you see a lot of crime in your neighborhood and a lot of gangs is to join the effort to fight it in an official capcity. This way you can have a fratenity/gang of your own, with your own guns, and your own powers that surpass that of the gang. If you are dumb enough to take on gangsters without the authority to do so, you can find yourself receiving death threats from those gangsters that you declared war on when you informed on them. Maybe you should read Sun Tzu, and never go into war unprepared.

    leave policework to professional policemen, idiot

    Why not become a professional police man? What stops you? You want to do something about gangs who bully innocent people? You have such a big conscience and you want to do something to improve the world? Why don't you become a policeman rather than tell everyone else what they arent doing? You cannot be a part time warrior. Either you are going to be a full time professional or you risk being harmed by gang members who only live that way 24/7.

    if no one stands up to the gangs, there will be always be gangs

    gangs exist everywhere, but are most potent where there are people who won't oppose them.

    Either become a cop and stand up directly to them. Or you and your neighbors put up cameras and or make the police put up cameras. CCTV cameras don't prevent crime but it damn sure will make sure it doesnt happen in front of you.

    if they go into a neighborhood and there is fierce opposition to their presence, then the gangs go away,

    Yeah sure dude. I'm sure the mafia left little italy because italians there didn't want the mafia to take over. I'm sure it worked for all the organized crime mafias and gangs, outlaw bikers and I'm sure it worked in the wild west too. The shop owners could just put up a sign saying "no gunslingers" and thats all it would take right? Unless you have guns you cannot stop people who have guns. Unless you have the authority to use your gun you cannot protect yourself from people who kill with guns.

    because the police round them up, because the gangs are reported by people who live there

    This might work in rich suburban neighborhoods. This does not work in neighborhoods infested with gangs and dominated by poverty. When you take down the gangs in these neighborhoods you take out multiple sources of income that many families in these neighborhoods rely on. There are no jobs and you the do-gooder wants to crack down on the one group of people supplying all the jobs and money for the neighborhood? You do realize that some of these gangs actually have civilian supporters right? You do realize that some of these gangs are sophisticated and have civilians who spy and snitch for the gang right? Thats right you'll go to your neighborhood meeting and discuss how you want to crack down on the gangs, and someone at the meeting will record it and give it to the gang leader and now you'll be the target of the gang.

    but if the gangs go to another neighborhood where no one complains as they do their dirty work, they stay there, and the police are stymied in their efforts by lack of cooperation by the citizens there

    figure it out retard: you have to fight gangs, you just have to, to SURVIVE

    if you choose NOT to fight them, then you will always have gangs threatening and menacing you, you live in fear: you are a slave. you can survive a day, sure, but you won't survive longterm, because gangs are gangs: they prey on the weak, and they will get to you at some point or another, until you stand up them to SURVIVE

    or don't, and be their slave

    you are really are a slave, you really do think like a slave

    You know nothing about gangs, at least not any sophisticated gang

  55. Drug use is not drug abuse. by elucido · · Score: 1

    You can use drugs without being addicted to drugs.

  56. Old people faced less of a threat. by elucido · · Score: 1

    The threat they faced is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, compared to the threat we face. They might have had to deal with risk but there was less laws for them to deal with, there was less technology for them to deal with, and in general there were less enemies for them to deal with.

    Chomsky might have changed minds but changing my mind doesn't change society. Society isn't influenced by our hearts. Chomsky will get nowhere because the only thing the empire cares about is maintaining itself. Their generation allowed people to do those sorts of things because there wasn't covert surveillance on the level there is now.

    And even if you have some people who invent things or write books, this is not going to change the minds of the generals and joint chiefs of staff who really decide what actions to take. They will decide along with the President. Chomsky is not the President, he's not general, hes not head of the CIA or FBI, he's not head of the NSA, he has no rank in the security establishment or the civilian leadership.

    I might agree with what he says but he doesn't have the power to change anything any more than Ron Paul has the power to become President. And a majority of their followers WILL be ending up dead or in jail because the government labels them domestic terrorists. They are probably being spied upon as we speak, with informants detailing their every move. On top of that the ones who really are serious? They'll be framed on some BS charges and locked in jail.

    The US Government does not follow the Constitution when conducting the war on terrorism. They will frame you up and lock you up, and in some cases they'll just grab you up and not press charges for years until the society forgets you exist.

  57. technology does not make politics obsolete yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Block all traffic coming out of china, unless it is mediated by an external open proxy?

    First china would need to depend on an external internet to the extent that, it would not be efficient to create a separate domestic internet.

    Alternately, data hosting companies could require incoming connections to pass through an anonymizing proxy within their jurisdiction, such that non-anonymous access would be cut off.

    The internet is still young, and humans can make it into what they want it to be.