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Comment by ccvannorman | Hacker News Reader

It will be interesting to see how the internet and citizens respond to this. For the first time in history, the mass of the populace has a chance to see what their overlords are plotting before it becomes written into law.

My guess is that these will all pass and corporate oppression will get worse, and in 20 years people will look at this and the average person will be more fired up to care.

right now, the average person doesn't understand the implications and doesn't care, which is why it won't be stopped.

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To be fair, your average person doesn't understand the implications of an international trade deal even in the case of full and honest disclosure. The nuances of international trade across many industries is something most people - such as me - do not have a strong grasp of.

While this might be true, I'd have said the same about privacy/universal surveillance a couple of years ago.

When the message is condensed and communicated in a way that everyone understands (even if that means highlighting some relatively trivial effects because they're more universally digestible), it becomes easier for Joe Public to identify with.

"When the message is condensed and communicated in a way that everyone understands (even if that means highlighting some relatively trivial effects because they're more universally digestible), it becomes easier for Joe Public to identify with."

And nothing of importance changes. And it's too late.

With economics, that means interpreting things through political lenses for them. Contrary to some veins of popular anti-intellualism, not everything can be broken down into soundbytes accessible to anyone with a third-grade education without losing meaning along the way.

In their desperation, the oligarchs are unwittingly sewing the seeds of their own demise.

I suppose it's to be expected; profits for the next quarter above all other considerations!

Their successors will have to deal with the fallout, not them.

The end of Greater Taylorism is nigh.

My only problem with this is that people are more concerned about who will win the next American Idol or Dancing With The Stars contest than secretive issues like these that our politicians are creating.

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