tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377798491811359486.post1013192549958517371..comments2024-01-14T04:31:49.115-05:00Comments on Reflections of Rodney: Thoughts On... Person Of InterestRodneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860620016177457657noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377798491811359486.post-8185646240233889232012-05-11T22:27:55.868-04:002012-05-11T22:27:55.868-04:00The trick with that particular quote from Benjamin...The trick with that particular quote from Benjamin Franklin is that few people actually take the time to truly understand it. What qualifies as an "essential liberty"? What makes your secrets worth more than the lives of whatever number of people who die every day of crimes that could have been prevented if the police had more information? Why are you worth more than those people? <br /><br />Secondly, we're not talking about temporary safety here. The types of threats that we face today are inconceivable by the standards of 18th century thinking. Do you think Benjamin Franklin had any inkling as to the destructive power of nuclear bomb? Not just the explosive, but the irradiation of the land afterwards. Do you think he would stand idly by cradling that precious privacy when thousands or millions were dying? <br /><br />You talk about the "secret list" of people not allowed to fly. But, you don't mention why that list was created in the first place or why it's still needed today. Where is your outrage for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed by individuals who hijack planes? 9/11 being one of the most recent examples. <br /><br />As for messing with hardware, who is there to protect the manufacturer when a subset of their customers use their tech to steal, or kill? Who is there to protect the rights of musicians and authors who lose out of lawfully obtainable royalties when millions of potential customers take their products without paying for them? <br /><br />For better or for worse, we live in the Information Age. While we as a society become more aware of the value of human life and quest to better understand ourselves and each other, certain truths become obsolete, while others become more powerful. You gave me a quote so here's one for you: <br /><br />"Freedom Isn't Free."<br />-Colonel Walter Hitchcock<br /><br />We have soldiers giving up their families, their mental health, their bodies, and yes even their lives for this country, as well as to maintain the freedoms we both cherish so deeply. But the question now becomes: We know what our soldiers, National Guard, federal agents, Fire Fighters, and Policemen are willing to sacrifice, what will YOU sacrifice? <br /> <br />"All evil needs to flourish is for good men to do nothing."<br />-Edmund BurkeRodneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17860620016177457657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377798491811359486.post-67851853870794875932012-05-11T18:52:06.676-04:002012-05-11T18:52:06.676-04:00"They who can give up essential liberty to ob..."They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin<br /><br />I can think of few better ways to say it, and simply looking at the world around us it's an easy statement to prove. You want to travel in an airplane? First pray you aren't on the secret list that contains terrorisits, children and senators, then wait in line to be groped or pornoscanned by undertrained rent-a-cops in DHS uniforms - that aren't really cops, though they like to act as if they are, they have no power to make arrest. Want to use hardware you own in a way the manufacturer did not intend? Be ready for a lawsuit (or a raid, if you're particularly unlucky) as mucking about with that ROT13 'encrypted' data on the device is against the law, despite the fact that you 'own' it. Want to lend a friend a mp3 or ebook? Be prepared to face a lawsuit of ridiculous proportions, despite that doing the same thing with a physical object is entirely legal (and further, protected by law). The list goes on: warrantless wiretapping, online surveillence, 'cybersecurity' bills which deregulate private companies voluntarily sharing confidential customer data with government agencies...<br /><br />I think we've given up enough freedoms. I'd rather we got some back, wouldn't you?planbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08766042682849185555noreply@blogger.com