Atlas of internet surveillance maps ownership of network infrastructures worldw

Freedom costs.

One has to have optimism beyond oneself - which is really a belief and care for the future and future generations.

I guess my point is that wherever you are in the world, and whatever frightened "elites" (legitimised criminal classes) you have to deal with, democracy and freedom are not states of being but ideals we make sacrifices for.

I think we have done a good job of standing up for that. I'm reminded on International Womens Day that people used to throw themselves under trains to make a point. They chose visible struggle. Protest is ever more costly. And what of Aaron Bushnell? Beyond comprehension! We've been living off the courage and sacrifice of 50 million lives 80 years ago so we're free to make money and have a good time, and that savings account is nearly empty.

Choosing to get fired, trash a "career", or forgo money seems a small sacrifice in the scheme of history and what others have given up.

In the UK we recently lost a lot of fundamental freedoms. Our current Tory party are spiteful and corrupt.

> Unless you think the UK and Germany are authoritarian?

There are extremist authoritarians everywhere. That was my point in the original post. And since they are essentially anti-democratic I think it's fair to label them as traitors and "enemies within".

> Besides, there are things we cannot even criticise in this forum.

We know that. Ycombinator has owners and a clear agenda. The punishment is being down-voted and made invisible. But there are ways to challenge entrenched ideas here and drag difficult topics out into the sunlight.

> What are the ideals?

Human rights. Particularly freedom of speech.

> Other than maintaining the European domination of the world?

I don't think it's fair to equate those things. I'm well aware of historical hegemony, That torch passed to the USA in the last century.

> What? You sound like the morons that think we invade Iraq to bring freedom and democracy.

Oh dear. I don't know where to start with all that. Iraq was an offensive resource war waged by the US to secure oil, with the side effect of toppling a disobedient puppet and assuaging the egos of two second rate Western leaders. That's not even debatable now. But to confuse that with the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in a world war in which 80-100 million people died shows an astonishingly poor grasp of history and politics.

They are useful because they put on a show of principles. That helps remind people that privacy and security are valuable even if Apple's products do not in fact deliver. They are useful politically if not technically.

The rest of your reply seems lazy. If you've something to say then please have the courage and good manners to speak up and say it.

I think either can be the prominent message; it depends on the speaker(s). People who favor dictatorship-enabling factors will rationalize and redefine those factors as freedom.

But it makes sense because in the way it's meant to be understood it's correct. One is a threshold that's reasonably easy to judge, the other is a process and the rate of advance can be the same whether you're close to the start or end of the process. The rate is the strongest signal, not just the absolute position.

If you travel from NY to LA most of the time you can tell if you're closer to one or the other. But no matter where you are on the route, you are indeed traveling from NY to LA. Going back to what I said in my previous comment, you should be scared that it's happening nonetheless. Getting a huge democracy like the USA to start to slide into authoritarianism, even just localized (for now) takes a lot of power and every step towards that destination becomes easier. The hardest part was already done - the inertia was defeated and the train is slowly rolling. Don't sit comfortably thinking "we're clearly freer than Belarus" because you're right today but you won't even notice when you pass the point of no return. Boiling frog and all that. I say this as a person who lived through times like that more than once. Freedoms are lost in the silence of the night but are (re)gained usually with blood, sweat, and tears. Wherever you think you are, be mindful of that.

*I have some bias here, I have mostly Western/EU-like views, I'm on forums with more US/EU people where they may complain about their own home, but they're also likely to "silence" opinions like "dictatorship better than your country". Or any opinion that doesn't align with the same Western views. More and more places are open just to pandering to the popular opinion. Like sitting in front of some 1st place football team supporters telling them their team is slipping, you'll still get your clock punched even if you're right.