Scaling China’s Great Firewall

I like that quote a lot.

Could apply it to many Americans too. If their only source of news is a three letter TV broadcast, they are morally deficient.

As a libertarian and privacy advocate, over the past decade or two I've consistently seen folks try to warn the public over surveillance and anonymity problems.

Most of the times, such warnings were laughed at. We got the usual tinfoil hat treatment.

I think the basic problem is this: it is hard to imagine the internet turning out to be the curse it is becoming. After all, as the author noted, we are all free to make our hotel and restaurant reservations.

I don't think people are stupid. I think when historians look back on the first years of the Internet explosion, the theme is going to be something like but nobody ever thought it could turn out like this

This doesn't give you the full picture, since the Twitter accounts are intended to be consumed by foreigners. Nonetheless, it's really easy way to get some idea of the typical tone/topics.

Two of my favorite nations, the USA and UK, seem to be heading in China's direction. US citizens in particular do not seem well informed on international events, nor much concerned about either government surveillance or its opacity on certain matters.

China's history, of which I do not claim to have extensive knowledge, also seems to support a tendency towards isolation, or maybe selective ignorance - well-versed in subjects that go boom or cha-ching, not so well on the subversive stuff.

That said, to rely too much on history leaves one vulnerable to the daring and imaginative. After all, Corsicans were never considered "truly" French, yet one of them became Emperor of France aand almost of Europe.