A CALL TO (DATA) INDEPENDENCE!

 

Peoples of the Rest-of-the-World 

- Wake Up! 


There's absolutely no need to continue using 1st world 'free' technology and pay the price of free prying into all of our business. If the citizens of America & Europe are willing victims, that's their problem. Why should we continue to be dupes?

After all, Most (if not all) of the software that's used to spy on us by the 1st world 'tech giants', their firewalls, and even their operating systems, were built by 'our' engineers, were created by and are maintained by Pakistani, Indian, Filipino, Sri Lankan and myriad other 3rd world software engineers.

We do have to thank the NSA and their political bosses for having finally kicked us in the butt! There's no lack of entrepreneurship on our side, it's just been lulled to sleep. So, time to wake up, build up our own infra, set up our own enterprises, offer our own jobs, earn our own money, pay our own taxes, and... We can do a better job. We can build really FREE social nets, provide real value, and even build-in security that will make the FBI, CIA, MI5, NSA (...and whatever other security agencies are prone to pry, & their contractors), sweat blood.

It's truly ironic that I am putting up my own 'call to (data) independence' on the blogger that's owned by google, who in turn has been quietly handing MY private data to all takers including apparently the Brits, and never had the courtesy to ask my permission to do so. Of course, it's probably buried deep in the fine print of something I 'agreed to' when accepting their terms of service, so it's my own stupid fault!


I will also publicise this blogpost on facebook, twitter, and whatever other captive/compromised social media I can find, for this is the only option at present.


BUT if the rest-of-our-world's entrepreneurs would wake up, there's 5 Billion people in this world that are not citizens of the first world and who would be happy to have alternatives, yes - better alternatives, rather than to continue to sell off our secrets, our business plans, our family doings, and everything else, for free, and just because we were too lazy and too complacent to do anything about it.

In the meantime, there's plenty for first-worlders to consider about the real costs of their erstwhile war on terror, costs that every single one of their citizens is having to pay, and costs that are at bedrock only paid because of pure political hype!

In fact there's little doubt that it is these very costs that are indirectly, but surely, destroying these 'advanced' economies from within. Take for one example this WaPo article and try to digest what the author says.

And we, the peoples of the Rest-of-the-World, will not be so foolish. We will exact the political cost for any politico that tries the same dupe on us. We're not THAT dumb!

But, that's an aside.

Peoples of the free world, UNITE!

Slave or Free? Independence, Dependence & Interdependence

Musing on the self’s necessary embeddedness-in-its-context, Jon Erdman, over at his Theos Project blog, has a fascinating post woven around the quintessential jazz quartets/quintets of the early nineteen sixties, and the experience of fantastic music from the likes of John Coltrane and Miles Davis and their troupes (search out some very choice live concerts on YouTube). On stage, each of the performers is an artiste of rare excellence, yet they meld together so spontaneously and effortlessly in their virtuosity that it is a wonder to behold – and the resulting music is something much more than the sum of its parts – shear magic. So what is this? How does it work? Pure individualism is an important basic component, but isn’t there also the magic of real codependence?

The ‘West’ (perhaps especially America) has lauded the values of freedom and independence as supreme.Western culture now extols these as the purest and most fundamental of human ideals – at least in theory. Western culture gears up to provide each individual with the greatest possible degree of freedom and independence.Economically, what that boils down to is ‘free enterprise’, while politically, the only way to go is pure democracy. Individuals, then, who make up the society, cooperate only by choice, and never of necessity. Of course, we are often left with a lingering suspicion that these 'ideals' may be more of a marketing gimmick than really real...

In the East, while we have been bombarded with these Western values and cultural norms, yet we are still very much ensconced in a completely different milieu. Our culture always covertly calls the shots. Family and societal needs always take precedence over individual likes, desires, goals, and even thought.

Certainly, some sort of a challenge has been thrown down on the part of freedom and independence by the ubiquitous Western oriented media, but how far has it gotten and where do we now stand? Are we Easterners now setting out to become ruggedly independent individuals? Perhaps, in some peoples mind’s, being freedom loving, democratically oriented, and independent, is theoretically possible. Perhaps, there is even an individualistic façade, a persona, trying to creep into our collective consciousness. But, in all key instances, when we dig a little deeper, we do find that it is merely a pretence, if not even a posturing, and one that is evident only on the surface.

Out in the world, our youth may appear to be momentarily confused about the possibilities of individuality and selfhood, but on arrival at home from high school or college, the dream quietly fades away. Culture and family are all that surrounds one, effortlessly sucking you in, and you are once again comfortably enveloped in that familiar territory of duty and belonging. Oneness of mind is not at all a matter of choice, it is the unquestioned necessity for survival and the ground of every one’s very identity.

Whatever be the future of our culture wars, in one small way democracy does threaten to drive a tiny wedge into our so far impregnable melding pot. Exercising one’s vote is a uniquely private event. However much discussion on politics, or the nation’s needs, may precede, the casting of that one vote is sacrosanct; it will not be intruded upon. Few are the opportunities to be a real individual in Eastern societies, but here in India, the vote is the one unique thing that DEMANDS your independence and underscores your constitutionally guaranteed freedom.

Don’t throw it away by failing to exercise your franchise.

In this coming election, and whenever again the opportunity arises - PLEASE VOTE!!!

How free is FREE?

I have been mulling over the latest political brouhaha in the US primary race. I think it's symbolic of how shallow the US's purported commitment to freedom really is.

Senators Obama and Clinton are locked in a 'fight to the death' in the democratic primaries. Into the midst of this melee springs a surprise (Obama machine) monkey wrench, the Wright Wrench. Now, suddenly, Obama turns tail and runs for cover, rebuking his overzealous ex-pastor and in the final analysis losing (in my unAmerican opinion) his perceived moral edge over his eagerly expectant rival.

The politics of the situation is rather comic. Whoever wins will be a 'historic' candidate in remarkable ways. So, I am not overly exercised by the potential outcome. Past experience has taught me never to be overly optimistic in these matters, for Americans generally seem more enamoured of the more caddish candidate and have always voted these known bad apples in for a second term and with their eyes wide open too.

What does interest me is the shallowness of the meaning of 'freedom' for Americans. One is welcome to be free, it seems, as long as that freedom does not extend to criticizing anything American. America is always good. America is always right. American foreign policy is always eminently fair... Any dissent is unAmerican. Any dissenter is a traitor. You are free only to believe and espouse one American truth.

One need not agree with a Wright, or for that matter with a Ward Churchill ("little Eichmanns" title link), or even a Farrakhan, or with anyone who refuses to wear a flag lapel pin... But, if one believes in freedom, if one really believes in freedom, one has to respect the dissenter and the dissenter's right to dissent.

At one time it was traitorous and unBritish for the erstwhile colonists to speak out against their God-appointed king. The dissent on which a potentially great democracy was founded was enshrined in the American Constitution's main text and then specifically spelled out in the very justly famous "First Amendment". It is a fundamental human right to be free to disagree!

One would think that being a member of a church where a pastor dares to speak what he sees as the truth, should be a big plus point for a presidential candidate. Here is someone who says that they admire the person and agree with some of what that person stands for and yet recognises that person's fundamental right to hold views that are unpopular.

Ask yourself: Is agreement necessary for acceptance? Does unpopular = unAmerican? I also wonder, does criticism of America mean less love for America, or even less patriotism?

If I were a psychoanalyst, I might even wonder whether such obvious displays of hypersensitivity may not be symptomatic of some under-the-surface feelings of GUILT?

India and Tibet

No one in the International community of nations seems to be ready to bell the Chinese cat on Tibet. The policy of silence is loudest in Tibet's closest neighbour India.

It seems a shame that commercial interests combined with India's real fear of confrontation with China on the disputed area of the borders in Arunachal Pradesh state, should be sufficient to cow down such an erstwhile champion of human rights as India. Still, the sad truth is that though the Dalai Lama is our guest in exile, in toto, that too is just for publicity's sake and has little other than symbolic value.

Reading through Tibet’s long and tortuous history, we must again conclude that the death blows to Tibetan independence were finally dealt by the British in the early years of the 20th century, closely followed by a botched CIA operation during the 1950s.Like any unfortunate country that is lacking great enticements (like oil or mineral wealth), no other nation is willing to stick their necks out against the Chinese behemoth for the sake of a few million poor and exploited Tibetans. Europe is happy to support the right of Kosovans to self determination but won’t even whimper at the fate of the poor Tibetans. As with Sudan and Burma, so it is too with Tibet - a mysterious cat has got every single nation’s tongue!

Meantime, the Chinese have been much more concerned with the possible effects on their precious Olympics. I think they have misread the world’s commitment to anything other than money. Our modern world’s shame is highlighted by the fact that ‘amateur’ sport has been so successfully exploited to become the biggest money spinning "event" of all time. Catch the nations of the world putting principles ahead of the chance to collectively make some really fast bucks! If only even one country would demand autonomy or at least basic human rights for Tibetans before agreeing to participate… fat chance!

Just for fun, compare the "Free Tibet" facts and figures (click on the title) with the Chinese version of 'the truth' and tell me what you think...

What will Be?

You who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

As a teenager, anytime mom and I would have a knock down, drag out fight over any matters of cultural evolution or generation gap stuff - important stuff too, like having the FREEDOM to grow one's hair long - I would eventually get round to playing this song, just a bit too loud, and after ensuring that she had indeed won the argument, mummy would laugh.

I look around at the youth of today, with a postgrad daughter and a son in college, and I wonder. When I was a teen, the issues seemed clear. We were against war and for peace, we were for love and against hypocrisy, we distrusted the establishment and wanted to be allowed to learn from making our own mistakes, and we loved the music that spoke and felt of these issues.

And you, of tender years, Can't know the fears that your elders grew by, And so please help them with your youth, They seek the truth before they can die.

Teach your parents well, Their children's hell will slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
 
("Teach Your Children" written by Graham Nash and performed by CSNY)

Whether it is TV, or popular books, what is taught in schools or even what we read on the most popular internet sites, today no definite positions are ever taken. We've been worn smooth.

Avoidance of discussion seems preferable to fighting it out. The truth is a non-sequitur, and the activities of daily living have taken precedence over thought, belief, and principle, or perhaps we have lost the confidence to really believe in anything.

I would much rather that the youth do not follow in such nondescript footsteps.

While the amalgam of the strange ideas of the sixties-seventies may not provide answers for today's dilemmas, in many ways there are now much bigger challenges than any we faced 'back then'.

The paths that our youth choose to take, their beliefs, and their 'code of the road', will determine much for the future of what mankind is to become.

Choose wisely!