[ExI] to my fellow renaissance life forms

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 13/08/2021 19:10, billw wrote:
> Here's an open-ended question for you:  what do we need to do as 
> individuals (starting with improving yourself) and collectively to 
> improve our world and our country?  Yeah, I know -- it will take you 
> ten thousand words to do that, but can you just make a list and 
> prioritize it?  bill w


It seems to me that the only things that are even theoretically capable 
of resisting the current rising tide of dictatorial, oppressive and 
power-hungry regimes (not to mention intolerance) are technology that 
can empower individuals, combined with education.

As far as what individual people can do to fight against a future dark 
age, I reckon 1) educate yourself about what's going on in the world, 
and 2) encourage others to do the same, and 3) adopt the technologies 
that tend to empower users, and shun the ones that entrap and control 
them, and 4) encourage others to do the same. Learning about, and using, 
Free and Open software would be a good start, as well as learning about, 
and if possible, contributing to, the Freedom to Tinker movement. Read 
cautionary tales such as 1984, and learn to recognise the signs of 
governments taking them as instruction manuals rather than grim warnings.

I realise there are huge obstacles to some of these things. Maybe a good 
first step would be 0) to try to figure out how to identify and overcome 
those obstacles.

Ben

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