2022-12-07 · timestamps by ADAtainment
UPD 12/07/2022
- A contrarian, libertarian take on Edward Snowden, arguing he is not a true martyr because he fled to China and then Russia rather than staying to be arrested.
- The deeper point is the hypocrisy of the privacy movement, which decries government surveillance while carrying Google, Alexa, and TikTok everywhere.
- Private companies are not bound by the Constitution yet know far more about you than the NSA ever could, because it is their business model.
- We increasingly own nothing, from subscription heated seats to vanishing Kindle books and unrepairable John Deere equipment.
- Blockchain exists as the one regulating function that guarantees what is on the label is in the can, and Midnight aims to give some privacy back.
- We are moving from an age of heroes to an age of you, where each person must take back agency and personal accountability.
20 entries
Just back from the NFR rodeo in Las Vegas, a yearly family trip, noting how expensive Vegas has gotten.
As a staunch libertarian who preaches privacy, government colluding with social media and the hate speech movement are attempts to control thought.
Snowden swore oaths at the CIA, NSA, and Army, then made a moral stance to tell the world what the intelligence agencies were doing.
Real martyrs, like protesters in Iran, China, and Russia or civil rights marchers, accept arrest, torture, or death to call truth to power.
Instead of leaking secrets and getting arrested in DC, Snowden fled to China, then Russia, and became a citizen swearing allegiance there.
Zelensky stayed in Kyiv despite death squads and a high chance of death, which is why he is brave regardless of politics.
The privacy movement is hypocritical: everyone carries a Google, Alexa, or TikTok microphone and tracking device owned by a private company.
Private companies are not bound by the Constitution yet sell and transfer your data, while everyone still buys the new iPhone every year.
Half of America accepted masks, vaccine mandates, and passports for safety, showing that being a martyr means going all in, not half in.
Blockchain is the only regulating function that guarantees what is on the label is actually in the can, when institutions can no longer be trusted.
Midnight is being built to give people some semblance of privacy back with reasonable guard rails and boundaries.
Nothing the NSA has done compares to what Google and Facebook know, since they built the most sophisticated AI to understand you for profit.
You increasingly own nothing, from BMW heated seats behind a subscription to Kindle books that can simply vanish.
The right to repair is being lost, which is why John Deere equipment locked down by software is a problem, as algorithms make more decisions for you.
Gain of function research is terrifying, since a small group could cause an extinction event within 25 to 30 years.
The nuclear age got a tight regulatory structure, yet only two mid grade officers acting against orders in 1962 and the 1980s saved humanity.
To have the age of IoT you must accept losing privacy, and a blockchain at least gives guarantees that everyone plays by the same rules.
Social media lets everyone know each other's business but divides people, and Neuralink style brain interfaces will eventually infer your thoughts.
Society is moving beyond the age of heroes to the age of you, where each person gathers enough agency and accountability to decide what they will accept.
The way out is to take your agency back, build technology that protects it, and create political systems that account for individuals.