First they came...
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| JaseP Mar 22, 2014 11:33 AM EDT |
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me. - Martin Niemöller |
| gus3 Mar 22, 2014 12:05 PM EDT |
As the office phone-answerer and general-purpose sysadmin, I was authorized by the CEO to tell any spooks who wanted a backdoor in our product where they could go. (But I never had to use that authority.) |
| DrGeoffrey Mar 22, 2014 5:38 PM EDT |
These days it does not appear that the NSA gives a dam about politeness or civil liberties. As was posted recently on /., "I fear the US is in the middle of a civil war they haven't noticed yet..." |
| JaseP Mar 22, 2014 7:28 PM EDT |
@ gus3: They wouldn't call & ask... They'd just just hack your personal system, use that to gain access to your sysadmin account and sift through your servers for whatever they think they needed... |
| penguinist Mar 22, 2014 9:41 PM EDT |
We have evil people working in our government. |
| fnoss Mar 23, 2014 6:53 AM EDT |
@penguinist I cannot emphasise enough that It does not matter who is in the seat, just that the seat exists. If you are not already familiar with it, take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment . It clearly shows that the people are exchangeable, yet the results aren't. Also, take a look at this study http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment . This shows you the extent to which people are willing to trust authoritative types without much resistance. Up to 80% of people who took part, were willing to effectively kill someone without any threat of coercion. Just some guy in a lab coat suggesting its OK. So when you mix peoples desire to have control over others, with their willingness to commit horrible acts where they can shirk responsibility (as in, "just doing my job ma'am") , you produce a pure, unadulterated sociopath. Isn't it better to not give them a seat in the first place? And isn't that seat exactly the thing which would attract the wrong type of person? There is no such thing as a "good" person. The only people who are better at resisting these urges, are those who have educated themselves about their own potential, and who can effectively identify the situations in which they could do harm, and stay away. I am not immune, you are not immune, and neither is your daughter. fnoss |
| jdixon Mar 23, 2014 8:58 AM EDT |
> Isn't it better to not give them a seat in the first place? That was the original concept on which our country was founded. A federal government with strictly defined and limited powers. This merely shows how far we've fallen. And the fact that there aren't huge demonstrations outside the various agencies involved shows how little chance there is to change things back to that original ideal. |
| gary_newell Mar 24, 2014 4:36 AM EDT |
It always amazes me how the US and UK moan at countries like Russia and China for their civil rights abuses but then think it is ok to do things like this. |
| cabreh Mar 24, 2014 6:01 AM EDT |
@jdixon Not being an American myself I perhaps see your plight a little differently. Why is a corrupted Federal seat worse than an equally corrupted and powerful State seat? |
| jdixon Mar 24, 2014 7:00 AM EDT |
> Why is a corrupted Federal seat worse than an equally corrupted and powerful State seat? One, because by definition the states aren't as powerful. They simply don't have as many resources. Two, because the states aren't the same and you can move between states easily. There are other reasons, but they mostly derive from these two. |
| Bob_Robertson Mar 24, 2014 10:39 AM EDT |
> As was posted recently on /., "I fear the US is in the middle of a civil war they haven't noticed yet..." Many people have noticed, and many are taking action, such as the Free State Project, to do something about it. The governor of Idaho signed a law that rejects all future Federal gun control laws as null and void in Idaho. And about "the US badmouthing countries like Russia", that's just old habits of the militarists in government and media. They're trying to distract people from realizing that more innocent people have been killed by police in the US since 2001 than by "terrorists". |
| patrokov Apr 06, 2014 1:41 AM EDT |
I can't remember which Russian said it: "The only difference between Pravda and The New York Times is that everyone knew Pravda was lying." |
| cabreh Apr 07, 2014 2:38 AM EDT |
@patrokov I thought it was that great Russian Ed Asner who in an interview said something like "The difference between a Russian and an American is that when the Russian reads his newspaper he knows he's being lied to.". |
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