[ExI] calling for our exi computer security hipsters, was: RE: Donald Trump

[Henry Rivera]

> On May 7, 2016, at 5:37 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
>  'Bread and
> circuses' can distract a population for a while, but if conditions
> continue to get worse, then revolt is inevitable.
> 
To bring this back to the technology realm, I'll add that a major problem at this point in time in counting on a revolt, vs other periods in history, is that politicians (regimes) with power now have the ability to oppress, suppress, and undermine their opposition via spying with technology, cracking secure systems, and controlling media with unprecedented degrees of access and a large degree of social sanctioning. Think North Korea, China, Russia, and Turkey among others. The odds of opposition displacing those in power there seems increasingly unlikely without assistance from forces outside those countries. Technology can be used to fight such oppression too (although we all know those in power are trying to detract from this capability), but the power differential (access to armies and firepower) favors those in power already. It's the brutal combination of that power plus the technology now that is the biggest threat to "opposition" parties regardless of who is in power at a given time, IMHO. Organizing a revolt discretely will become increasingly harder. Again, abusive regimes in power have always tried to eliminate opposing forces, 1 person at a time if necessary, and now the ability to locate and eliminate such "radicals" well before they pick up a rifle is greatly enhanced. This is not an insurmountable disadvantage (there is power in numbers), but it is a significant one. 
-Henry