I am gobsmacked by the tenor of comments here. At what point will HN posters finally realize that participation in the democratic process does precisely nothing against naked power?
Not to mention more restrictions to come via the various secret international trade pacts being made.
People must understabd this, to disagree is to be disingenuous on the face of mountains of evidence. The American people have zero say on policy, the laws the government wants the government will get, it may take a few more years but it will happen.
The system cannot be reformed, it's very core is corrupt, those who disagree are for the status quo of the police state and they are our enemy and the enemy of justice.
It is ironic to comment that comments have no influence upon others.
Personally I like to comment on this issue because it's about free speech and I like talking about that with people who are willing. Also I think technologists have a good chance to practice speaking up about this issue and be heard. Normally we are back-office people =)
I think you have a very valid point and seeing it downvoted instead of debated shows most of us are not bothered by that status quo. You can call your representative every time you think a legislation tries to overreach and hope your voice is heard, or instead of the symptoms you can treat the root cause. I believe the easier problem is to design a more just system which inherently advocates freedom and self regulates, while the much harder is to incentivize people to actually move away from the current one. Especially because usually the ones benefiting are the same ones holding the keys.
Keyword is more just. I don't pretend I have an answer, there are people far more knowledgeable on these matters. IMO the key points would be something like decreasing the overall power of the government (and red tape) and moving towards more self representation. Voting from your IOT device is technically pretty feasible at this point (maybe check the link in my profile). Also, I feel nepotism and corruption might be reduced if positions of power (even potus) would be selected from the general citizen pool randomly (~like a jury) instead of campaigning for them. I'm not American but following the election I could not pick a candidate from any of the parties who I would trust to represent my views.
I guess these points are easily debatable according to personal taste, but I'm sure there are many better ideas around.
I agree voting from your IOT device is something that should happen. We will get there some day.
To get to that point sooner, we should elect more people who are knowledgeable about technology. If you disagree or feel that is an impossible route, you may be able to find others who feel similarly. Personally I think people who feel this way are part of a minority and that limiting your interactions to a certain group is isolating and not productive. I am always looking for ways to engage people with different ideas, both to learn and to share what I've learned.
Ultimately, I reject vox_mollis comment that participation in the democratic process is worthless or powerless. Just listen to This American Life's episode on "Take the Money and Run for Office" [1],
> Barney Frank: If the voters have a position, the votes will kick money's rear end any time. I've never met a politician-- I've been in the legislative bodies for 40 years now-- who, choosing between a significant opinion in his or her district and a number of campaign contributors, doesn't go with the district. [2]
Or look at how Lindsey Graham changed his mind in the encryption case [3]. Our representatives are not entirely useless. Similar to your day job or at your school, some people are good at what they do, and some are bad at it. That's no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. We have the longest running democratic republic in the world. We should study it, contribute improvements by speaking up and voting, and be proud of it. Much of the rest of the world faces strict repercussions when they even speak against their government.
In 2011 Americans made over 8 million phone calls to their representatives in opposition to SOPA/PIPA. The bills were defeated. [2]
[1] http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/05/inside-the-fccs-1-1-million...
[2] http://www.sopastrike.com/numbers