[ExI] openness again

[spike]

From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of John Clark
Subject: Re: [ExI] openness again

 

On Sat, Apr 2, 2016  Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se <mailto:anders at aleph.se> > wrote:

…

 

​>> ​…But (2) to really work they need to be tolerant.

 

>…Yes, if the NSA knows all there is to know about me then I should know all there is to know about the NSA, and if they have a surveillance camera watching me then I should have a equally good surveillance camera watching them…John K Clark​

 

 

When you think about it, Orwell’s 1984 foresaw all this.  Privacy and political power become synonymous.  

 

This is a topic which we must ponder deeply: we know that our own privacy can be violated, by hackers and possibly governments.  What is happening right now is an ongoing struggle to reveal the contents of email that Mrs. Clinton wrote and received during her tenure as Secretary of State.  Doing so would be equivalent to demoting the office itself.

 

We have bitcoin which is now thought to empower criminals, for it provides privacy.  Don’t jump on me personally for stating that; rather focus on the concept itself: privacy is power.  My comment isn’t specifically about bitcoin, but rather the concept of maintaining privacy in transactions.  Note that in the USA it is becoming ever closer to illegal to trade in cash.

 

The government wants its privacy from us in order to maintain power.  This is all wrapped up in the FBI’s case against Apple (you GO, Apple!) and in its case against 23andMe (stand firm, Anne!)  There are probably other cases we haven’t heard of yet.

 

It used to be power was derived from differential control of wealth.  Now Orwell’s vision and Brin’s vision are coming to pass, as power has become a derivative of differential control of information.

 

spike

 

 

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