Thursday, April 03, 2014

It is for your own good: Less Privacy, More Vulnerability

The government spies on us for our own good. After 9/11 they ramped up their efforts to make sure it would never happen again. Edward Snowden revealed just how much information the government collects. When I woke up I tried to find a silver lining.


Terror
There is no universal accepted definition of terrorism but there are some common elements. Terrorism is about creating terror and fear beyond the immediate impact of the violent act itself. Terrorist try to shake the foundation of the country or society they oppose.
Sadly the 9/11 attacks have been much more successful than the terrorists ever anticipated. They not only murdered thousands of innocent people, their attacks changed the Western World. In a cynical twist of fate we try to preserve what we have by giving up some of it. A little less democracy is still democracy, right? The rule of law still applies, but there are exceptions. Unfortunately those exceptions hurt some more than others.
In a democracy people should make informed choices about the trade off between liberty and safety. Things had to change after 9/11. "We cannot tell you for your own safety" is wrong.

Risky Business
BDSM is a riskier than average lifestyle. Democracy means freedom to live your life the way you want without fear of persecution. The rule of law applies to us all. It provides kinky people with a means of last resort to correct a wrong. That safety net fails if the rule of law is applied arbitrarily.
The erosion of democracy and rule of law make our preferences a personal vulnerability that can be exploited or manipulated

This morning I woke up to a wonderful thought. Privacy is no more but maybe there is a silver lining to it. What if its loss makes us realize we need to accept other people's decisions rather than judge them. The alternative is to revert back to a common denominator that fits no-one.
BDSM is controversial by its nature. I do not see it happen. Still, it is a great idea to start the day

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