I'm sorry to tell you but your whole post is stupid...
The free market is a myth and so is freedom of choice, the only way could effect corporations behavior is if you had physical proximity to their offices whenever they try to do something underhanded their is genuine fear of the population next door. Steam would have never got off the ground if the outraged gamers in 2004 were two blocks away from valve. Your whole post reeks of the 'freedom of choice' and 'free market' nonsense which is 100% false. Pre internet software couldn't be held hostage and divided into two pieces, and the reason DRM became a thing is because 1) The Internet allowed software companies to split the software and take control of it and they could do this because the customers are 100's of miles away.
There can be no genuine market relationship when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other. The only way we could have 'freedom of choice' is if we had some say in corporate policy making, aka they weren't pure dictatorships where the owners can impose policy on the rest of society willy nilly.
... all modern videogames have just been rebranded "mmo" or "online or always online" it's still drm, smite, league of legends, dota 2, all the f2p games where game devs want money with no ownership for gamers. The man is smoking something to believe drm will disappear it has gotten worse, every server locked game is a drm'd game. Hell the game industry has been experimenting with encryption and virtual machines like denuvo.
Windows 10 basically wants to re-engineer the whole application environment so that people don't have access to their own files via encrypted file systems, etc. What of Magicka: wizard wars?
The whole game industry is basically destroying games willy nilly and steam has been slowly hiding the fact they encrypt game files and make it difficult for people to modifiy the games they paid for. Shit's out of control and it's because the average person is grade A tech illiterate moron.
"The reality is, we live in a world choke full of DRM and information harvesting megacorps - the free software idealism has lost and will never win"
His idealism has nothing to do with it, he's not an extremist. Basically its people like you who don't understand that the free market is a myth in a society of high speed internet where software producers are under private control, pre-high speed internet their was a balance between buyers of software and makers/sellers of software. AKA you got the software to run entirely on your computer because they physically had to let go of the software, post high speed internet. Basically Steam/mmo's/drm/software companies can take software hostage on the other side of the internet, break it into two pieces.
Free market theory can't work in such a society because 1) You'd have to be physically close to the companys producing software to hold them accountable and thereby prevent DRM from being forced upon you. 2) The average layperson in capitalist society is not technology literate enough to be a market participant. AKA the primitive primate brain was never designed to make rational decisions in a high tech capitalist society.
If anything permanently spying on people because private ownership of megacorporations doesn't work when the population using their services/products are physically not close enough to effect their policies. It's not that I wanted Steam or mmo's (drm'd rpg's with a subscription) to take off, it's that the informed members of capitalist society are not organized in a way to produce bad market outcomes. The idea that the average clueless tech illiterate kid is going to make rational decision regarding the future of videogames for instance (aka drm everywhere) is a myth. It has very little to do with Stallman being an extremist and everything to do with the free market having always been a myth, any large organization that controls a large share of the worlds wealth can simply forcibly impose policies on populations because the population is 100's of miles away, without physical proxmity in a post high speed internet age, there's no way to prevent having these policies forced on the population if they want to participate in the culture. Basically the myth of the free market is being shown to be a farce with the rise of the internet.
The myth of consumer choice is the issue - you can't have genuine accountability or influence over corporations policies without physical proxmity, aka drm wouldn't be a think if we all lived within a few blocks of these companies. They get to force it down our throats because they are taking advantage of the fact the internet allows you to 'distribute' the product while holding part of its functionality hostage on companies servers, aka it's corporate warfare on peoples right to their own personal computers and the files they are purchasing from these companies. UWP and encrypted computing Microsoft and big companies are working on are working to turn computing devices into magical dumb terminal permanently. The entire internet is being re-engineered to take total control of software away from the end user, since the end user is too technically illiterate to understand the sophistication of the attacks on their rights.
If anything stallman is right and the free market corporate extremists are wrong, in what world do you want to have you private data bought and sold by anonymous corporations and then sold to people who are hostile to your interests AND have your own computer files like games encrypted so you can't modify them while the legal environment is being remade to make file modifications illegal to software you've paid for? What kind of fucked up world do you live in that you want to be a slave of a giant corporation these little ceo kings and ignorant peasants? If anything its the average free marketeer that is the extremist.
No market relationship can exist when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other, there's no accountability so producers can impose their will on society and the average person is not intelligent enough to make rational decisions regarding technology because the human brain didn't evolve to deal with it.
"So instead of repealing the law, how about extending to also apply to Google and Facebook?"
Not going to happen, I'll get to why in a moment... check out the links when you get the time. The brain doesn't see the world as it is, see the science on reasoning:
This is former national security advisor of the united states Zbigniew Brezinski, worried about the political awakening of the masses, the rich and corporations fear the political awakening of the masses of the globe, so see what they really think behind closed doors here:
On social media -- social media are connected to intelligence agencies... if you think you are going to get privacy it's all bs and optics for the masses.
These links will take a while to digest, but if you want to understand what's going on in the world, you owe it to yourself to become informed about the true state of the world.
"Intended as an internal document. Good reading to understand the nature of rich democracies and the fact that the common people are not allowed to play a role."
"There's that fuzzy grey area in the middle now, though, like with most video games and other software, "
No the reason corporations got away with "licensing" software instead of us owning it was because no one understood tech, aka only the nerds are smart enough to understand computers and coding. Smart nerds always were for software ownership, business got away with a coup against peoples rights to own technology and software. AKA why can't you repair games or get access to the source? BS licensing laws because the average person is too tech illiterate. Basically the whole game industry is built on fraud, cultural works like games should always be owned by players. Not turned into broadcast TV/w the likes of drm...
Basically all online games are fraud - aka paying for a game you never own. League of legends, and other 'drmd' online games got away with mmo/f2p/steam drm because smart customers are nowhere near their offices and cant' punch them in the face. When king gabe newell of valve corp shoved DRM into half-life CS, there was massive outrage, the free market can't work when everyone has high speed internet and the kids are technology illiterate - aka so impulsive they will give away their rights to giant mega corporations and gabe newell because they are idiots and technology stupid.
Basically the public domain and freedom in videogame land was a victim of total corrupt laws that previous entertainment industries passed as well as corrupt laws from business community via software licensing . AKA the whole licensing model is just massive fraud when applied to cultural works like games. Game files are being attacked with encryption and virtual machine drm because the average consumer is not intelligent enough to understand what is happening. Most people are not going to deny themselves entertainment in their short often miserable lives. The reason they got away with this is because you as a customer need physical proximity to game companies or else they will produce games in underhanded ways. This is why steam, origin and MMO's became a thing - the smart people were not in physical proximity so there was no genuine fear of backlash, because the people who don't want it are 100's of miles away. The free market does not work at a distance when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other and there is no physical product... when I buy my computer, in order for the company to be paid it has to be given entirely too me. Software can be taken hostage because of the internet where it's divided into two pieces. No one tech literate wants it, we saw level editing and game modding under attack since the rise of DRM and its going to get a lot worse.
Ever paid for an mmo? Used steam? bought agame with onlin drm? Used an iphone? Most people fed this, even technologically literate people. The free market DOES NOT WORK when the business is 100 miles away PLUS the internet, before the internet corporations couldn't shove policy with broadband they will just do what the want and kids/idiot adults will just keep feeding money to apple, valve+steam and the big game companies. Game companies pioneered the walled garden with mmo's and drm, then smart phones came along... once MMO's took off and dlc/microtransactions to that small retard percent of the population gave companies like riot at league of legends massive profits, that 3% or less of the population is SOOO profitable and so fucking stupid with money that 97% of us even if we make the dont pay decision get fucked by that idiotic 3% because these businesses can sustain on that at scale.
... are not comptabile when the public is stupid, irrational and tech illiterate. The vast majority of hte people don't know what DRM is or how tech works which is why software and entertainment companies are getting away with re-engineering Windows and software generally to live in the "cloud" (aka walled garden).
Apple, Google, Valve, and other corporations saw phone and videogame companies getting away with basically stealing the peoples right to own their own software and never have it entirely run the users machine, that ended because 1) the average videogame playing person/kid is a grade A moron. 2) Adults who use windows speak a good game about rights but are ultimately also as illiterate as the average videogame playing kid.
Basically human beings minds did not evolve to make rational decisions in a high technology capitalist society so they act like they normally would - like irrational dumb animals.
Fundamentally corporations desire for profits and power means taking away users rights to software on their machines. Phones and videogames have shown corporations the way, so much so that even big physical machine making companies like John Deere are trying to prevent farmers from repairing their tractors due to "software licensing" nonsense, aka claiming farmers never own their own tractors. You can google it.
Software licensing in the context things we should own like human culture and apps that aren't taken hostage inside the "cloud" are what we need but the average person simply is too irrational, too impulsive and too illiterate. You'd pretty much have to challenge the very architecture of capitalist society to get your rights and freedoms back - aka paying citizens a way to buy them the time to clean up corporations and government, good luck getting the average citizen to come to that point of view though.
Most have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening.
This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
"Maybe, but many people (including myself) will just go back to piracy. I buy lots of games on steam"
Problem is all new games will be locked to a backend server as technology advances. Notice Starcraft 2 and diablo 3 are always online, two major games. Corporations have made huge inroads against gamers rights. The vast majority of the gaming masses are too illiterate and stupid to know how they are fucking the intelligent half of the gaming community over and completely fucking over game preservation.
You have a DRM system that is the least hated (and actually liked in some cases) by the users of any.
The fact they have DRM at all speaks volumes of what they think of gamers, the fact that people like you think corporations give a damn when they've been steadily taking your rights away is proof most of mankind is hopeless.
Then you boys should make an app that every computer enthusiast can use that tracks smart stats/drive failures and collects them at your servers. It'd be great to monitor drives across the internet with an application that you could just have minimized to the taskbar, maybe you could kickstart the funds for one? Many of us would gladly pitch in to get reliable drive data on a massive scale. Many of us are on the net anyway it would be great to report drive usage/characteristics in realtime across the internet.
I've been using stuff like below to "wing" whether a drive needs to be replaced or not, but usually drives start clicking before they go.
The MPAA et al feel they have the right to undermine every bit of technology to server their purposes. They want veto over all new technology to ensure that it aligns with their goals, and makes sure their rent seeking is entrenched in law.
They've been winning for the last 200 years. In terms of a game: After the publics defeat 6-0. Why exactly would they give up? The criminals of the corporate class have been used to getting there way for 200 years already.
"The problem is it will be abused. It will be used for things beyond the scope they claimed it will be."
And that's intentional. Most have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening.
This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
... of course they know who you are. You need an IP to send and receive information, just the nature of making a connection leaves a trail all by itself. Next it's not that hard to develop mathematical techniques to analyze text and language in posts since they can analyze that most people have limited memory and interest by nature of them being finite beings and can simply build profiles by simply combining all the little tiny bits of different info into some unique ID if they wanted to.
The nature of our technology has augmented our ability to see and detect so much it's increasingly difficult to hide anymore. I shudder to think how small cameras are becoming and how they will be all pervasive where it matters. We're basically moving into a "tripwire" society where hidden and not so hidden automated track wherever you go what you do and all that data can be stored, analyzed, etc.
"We do not have a shortage of CS workers in this country, we have a surplus, and with some provinces having over 10% unemployment rates Harper is seemingly doing everything he can to keep Canadians out of Canadian jobs."
If you think anyone of the parties in government gives a damn about you then you need to learn about the myth of "balance" in capitalist societies
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." [p. 10]
"War is a racket....It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23] "The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
Rule of law is impossible under capitalism, since the kings of business (he who has the gold makes the rules) get to do whatever they want and the public gets fucked.
So if you want to fight corruption "the traditional way" (electoral politics), you're dead in the water because most people aren't going to give up their deeply felt emotions and aren't very bright. This way of doing things is limited because of the limits of history and the amount of energy it takes to transform the minds of a large population and the fact that the media is co-opted. There are things that can be done but you'd have to be really committed and not a change the world 'faker' like most people are (aka they don't want to risk anything).
You need to know that most people who are voting in electoral politics don't live in reality (that's a sizeable chunk, many millions of people, totally oblivious). The real news is the cure for that. Hang out in places where smart people exist, avoid traditional media mostly and always keep them at arms length.
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." [p. 10]
"War is a racket....It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23] "The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
Rule of law is impossible under capitalism, since the kings of business (he who has the gold makes the rules) get to do whatever they want and the public gets fucked.
So if you want to fight corruption "the traditional way" (electoral politics), you're dead in the water because most people aren't going to give up their deeply felt emotions and aren't very bright. This way of doing things is limited because of the limits of history and the amount of energy it takes to transform the minds of a large population and the fact that the media is co-opted. There are things that can be done but you'd have to be really committed and not a change the world 'faker' like most people are (aka they don't want to risk anything).
You need to know that most people who are voting in electoral politics don't live in reality (that's a sizeable chunk, many millions of people, totally oblivious). The real news is the cure for that. Hang out in places where smart people exist, avoid traditional media mostly and always keep them at arms length.
"My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect."
You have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening. This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
The problem you're not seeing is, you have no facts and are not even qualified to ask the question (aka feasability) all you are doing is making shit up in your imagination, this universe works according to the laws of nature. It's not a magical god device. Any intelligence is going to have major trade offs, for instance certain animals are better than us at certain tasks because they traded one skill for another. The same will apply to any future intelligence because it is made of matter and energy. Not only that, you can't ask the question intelligibly until the facts showing its possible and feasible are there to begin with.
“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ”--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, Former United States National Security Advisor.
The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
The problem is your suppositions are not based on evidence, they are fantasy based fear mongering. The only "AI" you know of is electronic chip based, you don't know of any other. Therefore your argument is without any evidence, and hence can safely be rejected. It's like "Supposing leprechauns exists, what can be done to stop them?" It's a nonsensical question because if I asked you what "real AI" was you couldn't even define it, so you're asking an undefined question because you think the word "real AI" has some real meaning but if I asked you to point to a "real AI" you couldn't. Words are not reality if you can't point to an example.
"I was amazed to read major American newspapers and to see for myself how drastically what they were reporting was different than what was actually going on."
The elites are afraid of political awakening, and you really don't understand what science has discovered about the brian... you dear sir, don't live in 'reality'. See the science:
The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sorry to tell you but your whole post is stupid...
The free market is a myth and so is freedom of choice, the only way could effect corporations behavior is if you had physical proximity to their offices whenever they try to do something underhanded their is genuine fear of the population next door. Steam would have never got off the ground if the outraged gamers in 2004 were two blocks away from valve. Your whole post reeks of the 'freedom of choice' and 'free market' nonsense which is 100% false. Pre internet software couldn't be held hostage and divided into two pieces, and the reason DRM became a thing is because 1) The Internet allowed software companies to split the software and take control of it and they could do this because the customers are 100's of miles away.
There can be no genuine market relationship when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other. The only way we could have 'freedom of choice' is if we had some say in corporate policy making, aka they weren't pure dictatorships where the owners can impose policy on the rest of society willy nilly.
... all modern videogames have just been rebranded "mmo" or "online or always online" it's still drm, smite, league of legends, dota 2, all the f2p games where game devs want money with no ownership for gamers. The man is smoking something to believe drm will disappear it has gotten worse, every server locked game is a drm'd game. Hell the game industry has been experimenting with encryption and virtual machines like denuvo.
Windows 10 basically wants to re-engineer the whole application environment so that people don't have access to their own files via encrypted file systems, etc. What of Magicka: wizard wars?
http://www.pcgamer.com/magicka...
The whole game industry is basically destroying games willy nilly and steam has been slowly hiding the fact they encrypt game files and make it difficult for people to modifiy the games they paid for. Shit's out of control and it's because the average person is grade A tech illiterate moron.
"The reality is, we live in a world choke full of DRM and information harvesting megacorps - the free software idealism has lost and will never win"
His idealism has nothing to do with it, he's not an extremist. Basically its people like you who don't understand that the free market is a myth in a society of high speed internet where software producers are under private control, pre-high speed internet their was a balance between buyers of software and makers/sellers of software. AKA you got the software to run entirely on your computer because they physically had to let go of the software, post high speed internet. Basically Steam/mmo's/drm/software companies can take software hostage on the other side of the internet, break it into two pieces.
Free market theory can't work in such a society because 1) You'd have to be physically close to the companys producing software to hold them accountable and thereby prevent DRM from being forced upon you. 2) The average layperson in capitalist society is not technology literate enough to be a market participant. AKA the primitive primate brain was never designed to make rational decisions in a high tech capitalist society.
If anything permanently spying on people because private ownership of megacorporations doesn't work when the population using their services/products are physically not close enough to effect their policies. It's not that I wanted Steam or mmo's (drm'd rpg's with a subscription) to take off, it's that the informed members of capitalist society are not organized in a way to produce bad market outcomes. The idea that the average clueless tech illiterate kid is going to make rational decision regarding the future of videogames for instance (aka drm everywhere) is a myth. It has very little to do with Stallman being an extremist and everything to do with the free market having always been a myth, any large organization that controls a large share of the worlds wealth can simply forcibly impose policies on populations because the population is 100's of miles away, without physical proxmity in a post high speed internet age, there's no way to prevent having these policies forced on the population if they want to participate in the culture. Basically the myth of the free market is being shown to be a farce with the rise of the internet.
The myth of consumer choice is the issue - you can't have genuine accountability or influence over corporations policies without physical proxmity, aka drm wouldn't be a think if we all lived within a few blocks of these companies. They get to force it down our throats because they are taking advantage of the fact the internet allows you to 'distribute' the product while holding part of its functionality hostage on companies servers, aka it's corporate warfare on peoples right to their own personal computers and the files they are purchasing from these companies. UWP and encrypted computing Microsoft and big companies are working on are working to turn computing devices into magical dumb terminal permanently. The entire internet is being re-engineered to take total control of software away from the end user, since the end user is too technically illiterate to understand the sophistication of the attacks on their rights.
If anything stallman is right and the free market corporate extremists are wrong, in what world do you want to have you private data bought and sold by anonymous corporations and then sold to people who are hostile to your interests AND have your own computer files like games encrypted so you can't modify them while the legal environment is being remade to make file modifications illegal to software you've paid for? What kind of fucked up world do you live in that you want to be a slave of a giant corporation these little ceo kings and ignorant peasants? If anything its the average free marketeer that is the extremist.
No market relationship can exist when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other, there's no accountability so producers can impose their will on society and the average person is not intelligent enough to make rational decisions regarding technology because the human brain didn't evolve to deal with it.
"So instead of repealing the law, how about extending to also apply to Google and Facebook?"
Not going to happen, I'll get to why in a moment... check out the links when you get the time. The brain doesn't see the world as it is, see the science on reasoning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ
This is former national security advisor of the united states Zbigniew Brezinski, worried about the political awakening of the masses, the rich and corporations fear the political awakening of the masses of the globe, so see what they really think behind closed doors here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZyJw_cHJY
On social media -- social media are connected to intelligence agencies... if you think you are going to get privacy it's all bs and optics for the masses.
Reddit and intelligence agencies
Wikileaks -- Reddit and intelligence agencies
These links will take a while to digest, but if you want to understand what's going on in the world, you owe it to yourself to become informed about the true state of the world.
"Intended as an internal document. Good reading to understand the nature of rich democracies and the fact that the common people are not allowed to play a role."
Crisis of democracy
Crisis of democracy - PDF
http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-D... ">Crisis of democracy - BOOK
Education as ignorance
Education as ignorance
Overthrowing other peoples governments
Overthrowing other peoples governments, the master list
Wikileaks on TTIP/TPP/ETC
Wikileaks
Energy subsidies
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/NEW070215A.htm
Interference in other states when the rich/corporations dont get their way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mxp_wgFWQo&feature=youtu.be&list=PLKR2GeygdHomOZeVKx3P0fqH58T3VghOj&t=724
Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.
http://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499/
Manufacturing consent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwU56Rv0OXM
https://vimeo.com/39566117
Manufacturing consent (book)
http://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499/
Testing theories of representative government
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
Democracy Inc
http://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Incorporated-Managed- Inverted-Totalitarianism/dp/069114589X
From war is a racket:
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil inter
"And courts that have upheld it."
The courts are corrupt, they are part of the business community. See here by george carlin:
https://youtu.be/9dY4WlxO6i0?t...
"There's that fuzzy grey area in the middle now, though, like with most video games and other software, "
No the reason corporations got away with "licensing" software instead of us owning it was because no one understood tech, aka only the nerds are smart enough to understand computers and coding. Smart nerds always were for software ownership, business got away with a coup against peoples rights to own technology and software. AKA why can't you repair games or get access to the source? BS licensing laws because the average person is too tech illiterate. Basically the whole game industry is built on fraud, cultural works like games should always be owned by players. Not turned into broadcast TV /w the likes of drm...
Basically all online games are fraud - aka paying for a game you never own. League of legends, and other 'drmd' online games got away with mmo/f2p/steam drm because smart customers are nowhere near their offices and cant' punch them in the face. When king gabe newell of valve corp shoved DRM into half-life CS, there was massive outrage, the free market can't work when everyone has high speed internet and the kids are technology illiterate - aka so impulsive they will give away their rights to giant mega corporations and gabe newell because they are idiots and technology stupid.
Basically the public domain and freedom in videogame land was a victim of total corrupt laws that previous entertainment industries passed as well as corrupt laws from business community via software licensing . AKA the whole licensing model is just massive fraud when applied to cultural works like games. Game files are being attacked with encryption and virtual machine drm because the average consumer is not intelligent enough to understand what is happening. Most people are not going to deny themselves entertainment in their short often miserable lives. The reason they got away with this is because you as a customer need physical proximity to game companies or else they will produce games in underhanded ways. This is why steam, origin and MMO's became a thing - the smart people were not in physical proximity so there was no genuine fear of backlash, because the people who don't want it are 100's of miles away. The free market does not work at a distance when buyer and seller are 100's of miles away from each other and there is no physical product... when I buy my computer, in order for the company to be paid it has to be given entirely too me. Software can be taken hostage because of the internet where it's divided into two pieces. No one tech literate wants it, we saw level editing and game modding under attack since the rise of DRM and its going to get a lot worse.
Ever paid for an mmo? Used steam? bought agame with onlin drm? Used an iphone? Most people fed this, even technologically literate people. The free market DOES NOT WORK when the business is 100 miles away PLUS the internet, before the internet corporations couldn't shove policy with broadband they will just do what the want and kids/idiot adults will just keep feeding money to apple, valve+steam and the big game companies. Game companies pioneered the walled garden with mmo's and drm, then smart phones came along... once MMO's took off and dlc/microtransactions to that small retard percent of the population gave companies like riot at league of legends massive profits, that 3% or less of the population is SOOO profitable and so fucking stupid with money that 97% of us even if we make the dont pay decision get fucked by that idiotic 3% because these businesses can sustain on that at scale.
... are not comptabile when the public is stupid, irrational and tech illiterate. The vast majority of hte people don't know what DRM is or how tech works which is why software and entertainment companies are getting away with re-engineering Windows and software generally to live in the "cloud" (aka walled garden).
Apple, Google, Valve, and other corporations saw phone and videogame companies getting away with basically stealing the peoples right to own their own software and never have it entirely run the users machine, that ended because 1) the average videogame playing person/kid is a grade A moron. 2) Adults who use windows speak a good game about rights but are ultimately also as illiterate as the average videogame playing kid.
Basically human beings minds did not evolve to make rational decisions in a high technology capitalist society so they act like they normally would - like irrational dumb animals.
Fundamentally corporations desire for profits and power means taking away users rights to software on their machines. Phones and videogames have shown corporations the way, so much so that even big physical machine making companies like John Deere are trying to prevent farmers from repairing their tractors due to "software licensing" nonsense, aka claiming farmers never own their own tractors. You can google it.
Software licensing in the context things we should own like human culture and apps that aren't taken hostage inside the "cloud" are what we need but the average person simply is too irrational, too impulsive and too illiterate. You'd pretty much have to challenge the very architecture of capitalist society to get your rights and freedoms back - aka paying citizens a way to buy them the time to clean up corporations and government, good luck getting the average citizen to come to that point of view though.
... by another name.
Problem is both the above posters are ignorant. Modern publics are so illusioned they don't know which end is up.
Reasoning and the human brain doesn't work the way we thought it did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Manufacturing consent
http://www.amazon.com/Manufact...
Most have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening.
This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Brezinski at a press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The real news:
http://therealnews.com/t2/
http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-G...
http://www.amazon.com/National...
Look at the following graphs:
IMGUR link - http://imgur.com/a/FShfb
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
And then...
WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
http://www.businessinsider.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free markets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free trade?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
Important history:
http://williamblum.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
There's also steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/...
"Maybe, but many people (including myself) will just go back to piracy. I buy lots of games on steam"
Problem is all new games will be locked to a backend server as technology advances. Notice Starcraft 2 and diablo 3 are always online, two major games. Corporations have made huge inroads against gamers rights. The vast majority of the gaming masses are too illiterate and stupid to know how they are fucking the intelligent half of the gaming community over and completely fucking over game preservation.
You have a DRM system that is the least hated (and actually liked in some cases) by the users of any.
The fact they have DRM at all speaks volumes of what they think of gamers, the fact that people like you think corporations give a damn when they've been steadily taking your rights away is proof most of mankind is hopeless.
I work at Backblaze.
Then you boys should make an app that every computer enthusiast can use that tracks smart stats/drive failures and collects them at your servers. It'd be great to monitor drives across the internet with an application that you could just have minimized to the taskbar, maybe you could kickstart the funds for one? Many of us would gladly pitch in to get reliable drive data on a massive scale. Many of us are on the net anyway it would be great to report drive usage/characteristics in realtime across the internet.
I've been using stuff like below to "wing" whether a drive needs to be replaced or not, but usually drives start clicking before they go.
http://panterasoft.com/hdd-hea...
The MPAA et al feel they have the right to undermine every bit of technology to server their purposes. They want veto over all new technology to ensure that it aligns with their goals, and makes sure their rent seeking is entrenched in law.
They've been winning for the last 200 years. In terms of a game: After the publics defeat 6-0. Why exactly would they give up? The criminals of the corporate class have been used to getting there way for 200 years already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
"The problem is it will be abused. It will be used for things beyond the scope they claimed it will be."
And that's intentional. Most have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening.
This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Science on reasoning, reason doesn't work the way we thought it did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Brezinski at a press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The real news:
http://therealnews.com/t2/
http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-G...
http://www.amazon.com/National...
Look at the following graphs:
IMGUR link - http://imgur.com/a/FShfb
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
And then...
WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
http://www.businessinsider.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free markets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
Important history:
http://williamblum.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
... of course they know who you are. You need an IP to send and receive information, just the nature of making a connection leaves a trail all by itself. Next it's not that hard to develop mathematical techniques to analyze text and language in posts since they can analyze that most people have limited memory and interest by nature of them being finite beings and can simply build profiles by simply combining all the little tiny bits of different info into some unique ID if they wanted to.
The nature of our technology has augmented our ability to see and detect so much it's increasingly difficult to hide anymore. I shudder to think how small cameras are becoming and how they will be all pervasive where it matters. We're basically moving into a "tripwire" society where hidden and not so hidden automated track wherever you go what you do and all that data can be stored, analyzed, etc.
"We do not have a shortage of CS workers in this country, we have a surplus, and with some provinces having over 10% unemployment rates Harper is seemingly doing everything he can to keep Canadians out of Canadian jobs."
If you think anyone of the parties in government gives a damn about you then you need to learn about the myth of "balance" in capitalist societies
http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
Overthrowing governments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/War-Rack...
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." [p. 10]
"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23] "The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
The 9 trillion dollar bank bailout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Libor scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...
Rule of law is impossible under capitalism, since the kings of business (he who has the gold makes the rules) get to do whatever they want and the public gets fucked.
http://williamblum.org/
So if you want to fight corruption "the traditional way" (electoral politics), you're dead in the water because most people aren't going to give up their deeply felt emotions and aren't very bright. This way of doing things is limited because of the limits of history and the amount of energy it takes to transform the minds of a large population and the fact that the media is co-opted. There are things that can be done but you'd have to be really committed and not a change the world 'faker' like most people are (aka they don't want to risk anything).
http://therealnews.com/t2/
You need to know that most people who are voting in electoral politics don't live in reality (that's a sizeable chunk, many millions of people, totally oblivious). The real news is the cure for that. Hang out in places where smart people exist, avoid traditional media mostly and always keep them at arms length.
Corporate greed vs individual entitlement. Both extremes are wrong and harmful
You're a moron if you believe this...
The myth of "balance" in capitalist societies:
http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
Overthrowing governments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/War-Rack...
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." [p. 10]
"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23] "The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
The 9 trillion dollar bank bailout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Libor scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...
Rule of law is impossible under capitalism, since the kings of business (he who has the gold makes the rules) get to do whatever they want and the public gets fucked.
http://williamblum.org/
So if you want to fight corruption "the traditional way" (electoral politics), you're dead in the water because most people aren't going to give up their deeply felt emotions and aren't very bright. This way of doing things is limited because of the limits of history and the amount of energy it takes to transform the minds of a large population and the fact that the media is co-opted. There are things that can be done but you'd have to be really committed and not a change the world 'faker' like most people are (aka they don't want to risk anything).
http://therealnews.com/t2/
You need to know that most people who are voting in electoral politics don't live in reality (that's a sizeable chunk, many millions of people, totally oblivious). The real news is the cure for that. Hang out in places where smart people exist, avoid traditional media mostly and always keep them at arms length.
"My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect."
You have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening. This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Science on reasoning, reason doesn't work the way we thought it did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Brezinski at a press conferenec conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The real news:
http://therealnews.com/t2/ [therealnews.com]
http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...
Look at the following graphs:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
And then...
WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
http://www.businessinsider.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free markets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
"“A witty saying proves nothing.” --Voltaire"
The problem you're not seeing is, you have no facts and are not even qualified to ask the question (aka feasability) all you are doing is making shit up in your imagination, this universe works according to the laws of nature. It's not a magical god device. Any intelligence is going to have major trade offs, for instance certain animals are better than us at certain tasks because they traded one skill for another. The same will apply to any future intelligence because it is made of matter and energy. Not only that, you can't ask the question intelligibly until the facts showing its possible and feasible are there to begin with.
“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ”--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, Former United States National Security Advisor.
http://www.amazon.com/Between-...
The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
And then...
WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
http://www.businessinsider.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free markets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...
http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."
On reason:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
"You're objecting to a hypothetical discussion about possible future technologies by demanding evidence that we can produce that technology today"
That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.– Christopher Hitchens.
The problem is your suppositions are not based on evidence, they are fantasy based fear mongering. The only "AI" you know of is electronic chip based, you don't know of any other. Therefore your argument is without any evidence, and hence can safely be rejected. It's like "Supposing leprechauns exists, what can be done to stop them?" It's a nonsensical question because if I asked you what "real AI" was you couldn't even define it, so you're asking an undefined question because you think the word "real AI" has some real meaning but if I asked you to point to a "real AI" you couldn't. Words are not reality if you can't point to an example.
"I was amazed to read major American newspapers and to see for myself how drastically what they were reporting was different than what was actually going on."
The elites are afraid of political awakening, and you really don't understand what science has discovered about the brian... you dear sir, don't live in 'reality'. See the science:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Also a real news site:
http://therealnews.com/t2/
The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Look at the following graphs:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
And then...
WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
http://www.businessinsider.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Free markets?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...
http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...
"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.
In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."