ERIC P. CHARLES wrote at 04/02/2012 12:08 PM: > What is there to resist? What would such resistance accomplish? > Your options are to not care and go about your business as before, to learn to > talk in some sophisticated code, or to stop using the square. What else is > there?
There are at least 2 other resistance routes ... possibly more. 1) Use tools like the internet _more_ ... as much as you can, and 2) Press for _laws_ that prevent asymmetries and the enforcement of those laws on asymmetric agents (like Presidents who commit crimes but bet -- and usually win -- that they'll never be prosecuted). (1) contributes to "security through obscurity". The more normal people use the media for normal activities, the more difficult it will be to de-anonymize (make personal) any subset of transactions. And while security through obscurity is terrible when used in isolation, it can help. [*] (2) The prevalence for openness we see in our youth is _not_ identical to apathy about who's snooping. The openness is, I think, a lack of wisdom about how asymmetric relationships can become. The problems don't lie in people _knowing_ that I have cats and what they look like. The problem lies in nefarious or all-powerful agents knowing that I have cats and what they look like. Any federal agency (by the very definition of "federal") sets up an asymmetric relation from the start. And _that's_ bad. Asymmetry always leads to abuse, unless it is well regulated. So, definitely don't just get used to it. Push for research into where anonymity fosters or hinders human rights. Push for open government. Guilt trip your friends into setting up and using GPG, Tor, BitTorrent, Etc. Use the internet for buying groceries and talking to grandma as well as downloading music and looking up bomb recipes. Etc. Do anything _but_ give up and get used to whatever bad situation you're in. [*] Using the commons for things other than specific "suspicious" activity is what the Occupy movement is all about. If we only encrypt our _important_ e-mails, then the NSA knows _exactly_ which e-mails to attack. It's so obvious I'm totally confused why more people don't support Occupy. We should not only protest in the commons ... we should also play chess there ... drink beer there ... play football there ... etc. -- glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
