The key word here is willing. If technology produces
convenience at the
expense of liberty, then the average joe is *willing* to sacrifice a
little liberty for a little convenience.
the two things are mutually exclusive and not related.
Technology, ie human invention, never reduces liberty.
Correct.
Just this evening my wife and I were discussing a program the local grocery
store has, where they give you a discount card that they use to monitor
your spending habits. Actually they mark up prices on certain items
outrageously, and if you have the discount card you pay the normal price
and may, if you so choose, suffer the illusion that you have saved all
kinds of dough.
What this really means is that they've found a much cheaper and effective
way to do comprehensive market research. The cost of that research is passed
on to consumers _anyway_; they've just found a better way. Now they can sell
me a loaf of bread cheaper because they don't have the expense of trying to
figure out the hard (and expensive) way if stocking ostrich kidneys in the
deli section would be a good idea.
Now does this technology reduce freedom? No. It gives me the _choice_ to
sign up for the card. If I'm not worried that they'll monitor how much beer
and fried food I buy and sell that information to my insurance company,
that's my choice. Even if I am worried, I can just pay cash for those things
and not use my card. Technology has _increased_ my freedom by making the
market more efficient/productive.
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