If one reads the Unabomber’s Manifesto, it becomes obvious that in some ways he was a visionary. I am not endorsing every statement he made, but his observation that technology can enslave a population is correct. The more technology increases, if it is not regulated, the easier it is to datamine people. As a result people’s actions and words can be held against them inappropriately. That is why a technocratic and modernist regime must have good privacy policy. Unfortunately, the privacy policies in America are total garbage. They pale in comparison to Europe. In America, your personal information is “fair game.” This is the “effect” of the “free market” and “liberty.”

In this sense, the liberal capitalism of America enables economic discrimination against dissidents by making personal information easily available through mediums such as “google.” China, on the other hands, controls and regulates the internet as does Cuba.

China and Cuba should be commended with a nice package and a thank you card. Liberals should receive a metaphorical bomb.

Note that I said metaphorical. I am not advocating violence but I understand the motivation.

Tags: datamining, freedom, information, kaczynski, liberalism, private, technology, ted, unabomber

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Neo-liberalism, Science/Technology, Socialism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.