Technology Tribulations: A Weird Uncertain Future Ahead Of Us

Technology Tribulations: A Weird Uncertain Future Ahead Of Us

From a distance I've been watching the NSA situation unfold into fragmentation of positioning. Cable TV punditry bickering, cable comedy skits, and all the while the digital machine continues to chug along without missing a breath.

In order to understand the complexities of what is happening, one need to look at the United States as well as the rest of the world in how it monitors and keeps tabs on it's own citizens. Each country does this in some capacity, lets not kid ourselves.

A great deal of this was setup when people started becoming connected to the network i.e. telephones and the such. A lot of what is happening is an unwavering attention to the scary aspects of snooping via anything digitally connected. There is one very critical component people seem to be missing here and it is: this was decided a long time ago.

We all are in the midst of a sea change, what was with regards to being able to control your background information is now gone. Everything is tied intrinsically to some kind of technology. Just look at law enforcement, who've become the implicit trackers, monitoring, and securing any all information on US citizens whether you like it, and know it.

I think the argument more or less is being shaped at how this information is being kept and for what purpose of this information is going to be used for. I won't claim I am knowledgeable to inner machinations of federal, state, or local security, but I understand the need to conduct it because we can't even trust ourselves.

With the advent to the opening up of the internet in the early 1990s, people went nuts for any info they could get a hold of. Want to see what the scope is on XYZ company? Hack into it. Want to change your test scores to reflect a better grade? Hack into it.

There was a level of frontiersman like adventure before people started doing nefarious things to corporate businesses, and private systems. Then something changed, a sort of spying began, locating various infrastructure weaknesses, retrieving and securing those confidential documents. Without one the other couldn't exist.

This isn't just some fly by night operation, this was already decided upon long before Mr. Snowden and others marched out with all the implied nefariousness of snooping on both U.S., and world citizens.

What isn't being discussed is how to look at information in a transparent way. Most people are content with "I have nothing to hide" mantra, but do we? In all essence everything that is broadcasted via laptops, home computers, game consoles, smartphones, Wi-Fi hotspots are traceable if one knows how to do it.

The real conflict for me is having this tug of war component with a somewhat knowledgeable or naive society (depending on who you ask) but the way the machine has been shaped to protect is now often spying on its own citizens for the purpose of future (supposed) incarcerations. In my gut there is something very creepy about how stuff that is being done without knowing who or what is gaining from my info.

I am not a fan of it either. But I am not naive either. When humans invent materials, and or things, it often becomes subverted for those with much bigger agendas. There is a level of unscrupulousness to the whole affair, but I am not losing sleep over any of it.

There is going to be eyes watching everything we do. This is the way of playing with the 21st century information age. Transparency doesn't mean anything if our elected bodies, and judicial systems don't protect the precepts of the constitution. Yet I feel big business interests delude these protections for an argument they get to win, whereas (us) are having to struggle with that profitability off of our online life.

So many angles to look at here, but the way I am understanding it, we are in deep trouble if there aren't system checks and balances in place, because sooner than later someone is going to abuse the system for their own benefit, and everyone else is damned. My two cents on this whole crazy 24/7 watchful eye stuff. Thanks for reading.

B.