<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
</head>
<body>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 13/08/2021 19:10, billw wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:mailman.12.1628878248.23384.extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org"><font
face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">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</font></blockquote>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Ben</font><br>
</p>
</body>
</html>