Snowden Rallies Privacy Advocates In New York City 72
An anonymous reader writes 'Mass global surveillance "isn't just an American problem, this is a global problem," Edward Snowden told the Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) conference in New York on Thursday. Appearing via video call from Moscow, Snowden spoke with John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered in downtown Manhattan. Barlow announced the launch of the Courage Foundation, an organization dedicated to financially supporting Snowden's considerable legal battles. "I'm afraid we've descended to this point," Barlow said, "But why do animals lick their genitals? Because they can. Why do governments do this? Because they can't lick their own." "They're licking ours," Snowden quipped, "and taking pictures."'
Snowden For President (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's vote him in and he can pardon himself. Problem solved.
Anaemic Responses (Score:3, Interesting)
Then I realized, he's managed to turn the focus of the world back onto the invasion of our selves, social and personal, by governments.
So I'd ask: "why then, is the response so anaemic?"
Who we are used to be about our bodies, our family, our social interactions day to day. Suddenly as technology began to increase our reach - we found all forms of communication first monitored, then censored by governments, and their corporate proxies.
I don't deny them the right to protect themselves, but it seems to me that 'they' are 'us'. We all want status, and security, so we aim for money (counters printed by them), power (positions, and authority rationed out by them), and I don't know a single business leader or politician who doesn't defend themselves by setting up legal structures to deflect blame or absolve themselves.
What we need perhaps is to take the tools of the internet and create something new - looking at BitCoin and its resilience in the face of massive corporate and government opposition I think what worries them is they'll first cede control of the coinage, and then cede control of the courts.
Coins are important - we used to rely on governments to stand by their currency but with BTC and related currencies we can now create unforgeable, and publicly verifiable money. No need for banks, and their associated parasites.
Courts are also vital - well aware that people are tried in public as much as in private - both the etiquette and the frameworks for legal accountability are shifting towards the individual. I'm heartened by the approach of the EU, and glad that Google is moving forward to implementing privacy carefully and thoughtfully.
Sorry for writing so much, please let me know what you think privacy will be like in 5-10 years - and critically - if you think we'll be able to be private citizens again, or is it already too late?
Thank you.
Re:We're supposed to take this seriously? (Score:3, Interesting)
There's no intelligent debate to be had, or a debate at all. It's just the government violating the highest law of the land, and people who give a shit trying to stop them. They had no moral high ground since the beginning.
The point is, if the situation is dire and serious, the message should be as well. Think about it for a second, if someone on here posted "Don't buy an iPhone because Apple wants to lick your balls!" it would be moderated as troll in the blink of an eye. It works for Southpark because the objective is to get you to laugh. When you're pointing out an injustice being committed by the government, you should be trying to get people to think.
Re:We're supposed to take this seriously? (Score:5, Interesting)
Whilst that is true, paradoxically, the more dire and serious the message is, the easier for our controlled press outlets to manipulate it into something else, so the less people listen. Perhaps Snowden is just pressing a point in presenting the argument that way to make it, feel, really personal because it is.
You are right, I sense they will think 'EWWWW', however it's a mammoth task getting people to do anything until they understand why its in their own self interest. Slowly the legal framework is put in place, the use of such powers concealed and, sometimes not acted on. People never feel the impact and are dumbed down enough to be apathetic enough to allow more freedoms to be stolen. Look at the silly monkey
The self involved aspects of our own culture works against us as vanity makes so many of us desperately shallow and ignorant. Meanwhile those remaining in our western society who understand what freedoms are being stolen and twisted against us, scream in frustration as democracy is turned into a parody of what was supposed to be. A trapped is only closed when all avenues of escape are.
It would seem though that even in the intelligence agencies there are people saying 'this is gone far enough', recognised whoever is pushing this agenda as a domestic enemy and have been brave enough to stand up to the systemic corruption that is threatening to collapse Western society the same way the USSR was. They are ejected from the machinery.
I just hope that democracy doesn't become the experimental blip in history between monarchies and ogliarchies because we were too afraid and lazy to face the responsibilities of living in one.