My neighbour is from Egypt, is Coptic Orthodox and a retired doctor. He goes back to Egypt every winter to escape the snow and cold, and then returns here to Canada for the summer. I asked him what he thought about a democratically elected leader for Egypt and he said "it won't work. Egypt needs a strong leader with absolute power." That's how the minority thinks in that country.
Ever since Edward Snowden went public, I have been racking my brain trying to conceive of a catastrophic event involving government surveillance that would motivate a large number of people to march on Washington chanting "Enough!"
Say the words "Social security reform" out loud and retirees start boarding buses bound for the capitol.
Suggest that limits on gun ownership should be put in place and the NRA is on your doorstep.
Point out that the NSA is building a massive repository of every aspect of your very being...and people shrug. They just don't see the value of and power of personal or private information. It's too nebulous a concept for the average person to grasp, and no amount of public awareness is going to help. And those running the program and collecting the data sure as hell aren't going to give up their valuable and powerful tools, no matter how embarrassing it is when they're called out in public. Quite the opposite: they want more tools and they want them yesterday, and they don't want to be told what they can and can't do with them, especially when are busy protecting us from the bogeyman. Very few of us - Mr. Snowden et al - are willing to stop and consider why this is wrong.
So does anyone have any ideas of what it will take to turn this indifference into outrage? Or will it take a full-scale and bloody revolution to stop us from being dragged down that path to hell that is paved with good intentions?
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My neighbour is from Egypt, is Coptic Orthodox and a retired doctor. He goes back to Egypt every winter to escape the snow and cold, and then returns here to Canada for the summer. I asked him what he thought about a democratically elected leader for Egypt and he said "it won't work. Egypt needs a strong leader with absolute power." That's how the minority thinks in that country.
Ever since Edward Snowden went public, I have been racking my brain trying to conceive of a catastrophic event involving government surveillance that would motivate a large number of people to march on Washington chanting "Enough!" Say the words "Social security reform" out loud and retirees start boarding buses bound for the capitol. Suggest that limits on gun ownership should be put in place and the NRA is on your doorstep. Point out that the NSA is building a massive repository of every aspect of your very being...and people shrug. They just don't see the value of and power of personal or private information. It's too nebulous a concept for the average person to grasp, and no amount of public awareness is going to help. And those running the program and collecting the data sure as hell aren't going to give up their valuable and powerful tools, no matter how embarrassing it is when they're called out in public. Quite the opposite: they want more tools and they want them yesterday, and they don't want to be told what they can and can't do with them, especially when are busy protecting us from the bogeyman. Very few of us - Mr. Snowden et al - are willing to stop and consider why this is wrong. So does anyone have any ideas of what it will take to turn this indifference into outrage? Or will it take a full-scale and bloody revolution to stop us from being dragged down that path to hell that is paved with good intentions?
One company has aready achieved that goal: Samsung
To quote comedian John Pinette: "KFC is the nutritional equivalent of crack cocaine."