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Comment by throwaway_pdp09 | Hacker News Reader

Nobody's willing to defend them? I think you mean you can't be bothered. Some years ago I raised an abuse of power by the british government with the EU and wheels started to move. I'm not giving details and it was nothing too major but it's surprising what one letter to the right official did (ok, I imagine there were others also complaining so not just me).

With a number of people here for whom failure is not an option, it's a bloody destination, undermining anyone who tries, you will get the society you deserve.

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> Nobody's willing to defend them? I think you mean you can't be bothered.

I mean, I do also write to MPs and various offices. What I mean to say is it's very difficult to build a grassroots movement that opposes the establishment, Brexit being the big exception to the rule.

Anyone campaigning for say, digital rights against government surveillance could get cancelled by the media very quickly.

Trouble is there are too many who won't try. And brexit was anything but grass roots, it was led by the top. There was also a lot of passion there to be led, for better or worse.

> Anyone campaigning for say, digital rights against government surveillance could get cancelled by the media very quickly.

Oh come on, get cancelled by the media? They might be lazy at times but the media doesn't 'cancel' stuff.

They memory hole lots of stuff though.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?gbv=1&tbm=nws&q=%22governmen...

Seems like it's there.

Not sure I understand what you're getting at??

Eh?? Brexit was fiercely decried by the ruling class. The only reason the vote happened was because it threatened to break up the conservative party. Nobody expected the result we got.

The media doesn't cancel people directly but they do amplify minor Twitter outrage to a global audience and as such, part of the problem. The canonical example is entire articles being written on 1-2 tweets supporting a particular opinion, but ignores thousands of tweets with a different opinions.

> Nobody's willing to defend them? I think you mean you can't be bothered.

You are asking people to be bothered, when their own Western governments were asking them not to for the last 20 years.

These people got very well habituated to the injustice their own countries perpetuate.

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