I write this article for posterity - as a historical preservation of the most significant intersecting events of our time preceding digital gulags, for I know that the timelines might all be scrubbed clean and memory holed, eventually...
Make backups and keep these copies secret, keep them safe everyone. Print hard copies if you can. Future generation will need to know what happened here.
He who controls the past controls the future. Every distributed document saved, is a bulwark against that control.
In the end I blame the compliant. Appeasers and bootlickers are why we can't have nice things.
Many years ago, like back when I'd still go into retail stores because there was no Amazon, the cashiers started asking for customers' phone numbers. It was all I could do to limit myself to saying "No" instead of "None of your fucking business," which was always my first reaction. I don't even like giving my name when I call somewhere to ask a general question. I pretend I didn't hear the "With whom am I speaking?" part and just start asking my question.
It's not that I expect everyone to be as psychotic about boundaries as I am, but is it too much to ask to consider the slippery slope involved? They've been boiling the frogs for decades now, and most of these stupid asshats not only don't have anything valuable enough to protect behind a privacy barrier, but actually like it when they're asked nosey questions. It's the only time anyone takes notice of them: when it's time to track the cattle.
You make an interesting point which had not occurred to me - that people actually enjoy being tracked and having their personal data harvested because it amounts to them receiving attention, which they can then virtue signal about too. I also prefer physical retail outlets to the online experience - so long as I can still pay with cash. The relentless requests for emails and phone numbers is irritating. All Decathlon (sports equipment chain) outlets in Thailand now make it conditional to collect your email address before they collect payment - the cashier threateningly explains that it will affect returns policy if the email is incorrect - BS. I gave fake email addresses out but have not shopped there in over a year now, because it annoyed me so much.
Yes: You're no more obligated to provide accurate information to prying strangers than you are to be honest when a burglar demands the combination to your safe. The only other thing you can do when they're aggressive about it is refuse to shop there and tell the corporate office why.
People who want to be stars in their own movies are why Facebook became so popular, I think. There are some legit uses for it as a digital community bulletin board so you don't have to go to the laundromat to find someone selling firewood, but that's not how it was originally pitched. It was pitched as a way for people who haven't achieved anything to get noticed. "'Friend requests.' Ugh.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the article Ben. I was quite surprised at Applebaum's viewpoints and beliefs as linked up on her website with tweets collated: https://www.anneapplebaum.com/
I bought all three paperback volumes of The Gulag Archipelago series two years ago and have finally gotten around to reading volume 2. Applebaum's foreword makes for an interesting introduction to the material.
PDF saved.
Make backups and keep these copies secret, keep them safe everyone. Print hard copies if you can. Future generation will need to know what happened here.
He who controls the past controls the future. Every distributed document saved, is a bulwark against that control.
Now, back read the article
In the end I blame the compliant. Appeasers and bootlickers are why we can't have nice things.
Many years ago, like back when I'd still go into retail stores because there was no Amazon, the cashiers started asking for customers' phone numbers. It was all I could do to limit myself to saying "No" instead of "None of your fucking business," which was always my first reaction. I don't even like giving my name when I call somewhere to ask a general question. I pretend I didn't hear the "With whom am I speaking?" part and just start asking my question.
It's not that I expect everyone to be as psychotic about boundaries as I am, but is it too much to ask to consider the slippery slope involved? They've been boiling the frogs for decades now, and most of these stupid asshats not only don't have anything valuable enough to protect behind a privacy barrier, but actually like it when they're asked nosey questions. It's the only time anyone takes notice of them: when it's time to track the cattle.
You make an interesting point which had not occurred to me - that people actually enjoy being tracked and having their personal data harvested because it amounts to them receiving attention, which they can then virtue signal about too. I also prefer physical retail outlets to the online experience - so long as I can still pay with cash. The relentless requests for emails and phone numbers is irritating. All Decathlon (sports equipment chain) outlets in Thailand now make it conditional to collect your email address before they collect payment - the cashier threateningly explains that it will affect returns policy if the email is incorrect - BS. I gave fake email addresses out but have not shopped there in over a year now, because it annoyed me so much.
Yes: You're no more obligated to provide accurate information to prying strangers than you are to be honest when a burglar demands the combination to your safe. The only other thing you can do when they're aggressive about it is refuse to shop there and tell the corporate office why.
People who want to be stars in their own movies are why Facebook became so popular, I think. There are some legit uses for it as a digital community bulletin board so you don't have to go to the laundromat to find someone selling firewood, but that's not how it was originally pitched. It was pitched as a way for people who haven't achieved anything to get noticed. "'Friend requests.' Ugh.
Nice article. Anne aoplebaum is a giant sack of shit though for the record
Thanks for the positive feedback on the article Ben. I was quite surprised at Applebaum's viewpoints and beliefs as linked up on her website with tweets collated: https://www.anneapplebaum.com/
I bought all three paperback volumes of The Gulag Archipelago series two years ago and have finally gotten around to reading volume 2. Applebaum's foreword makes for an interesting introduction to the material.
Applebaum*