[dopidopHN2]

You are cute.

I'm part of org working with ACLU, EFF and actual more important and active orgs that would would not know about.

When I go to city council, its with 50 other peoples and 4 or 5 other speakers.

Its when we need to have our representative on the record.

Me and other folks in that loose network of org have forced our city to pass regulations, have our police force admit they use surveillance without oversifht, and expose their poor security practice overall.

Good luck in your comfort that your country is not broken

[godwinson__4-8]

You're cute too.

So you accomplished all these things and yet the country is broken?

I'm confused. Did you not get everything you wanted fast enough? How sad :(

[dopidopHN2]

It's my hobby! some people like 3d printing or trolling on the internet.

I like to prevent my city council to implement more surveillance and expose how cosy they are with the companies selling said surveillance.

>So you accomplished all these things and yet the country is broken

Yes. Those things are meaningless in the face of 3 letter agency capability or broad stroke regulation like FISA (recent big win by the folks at RT4 there, normies have not heard of it but those people did a great job at influencing republican politician )

> Did you not get everything you wanted fast enough? How sad :(

I mostly want privacy, for myself and the people who seek it.

I don't find that too much to ask in a country that is fast to point the finger at China "dystopian level of surveillance"

10 years is a sizeable slice of life. Their was some progress and wins. And those days the zeitgeist is on our side.

But its sad yes.

[godwinson__4-8]

If Men were angels, no government would be necessary.

Sadness is part of life. I actually respect the work you do, your own obvious condescension aside ("normies" and so forth). I guess we can allow it given this is probably a typical attitude of those who are deeply enmeshed in these issues while others just go on about their lives.

I simply ask you to consider the counterfactual to your original articulation in this thread.

If one or a handful of people showing up could simply change the law or the prevailing order by the force of their minority stamina alone that would not be a desirable society, now would it? As someone who has been to more than a few city council meetings you have surely encountered some of these people. In your case, I would too wish the path was easier. But if you could get everything you wanted right away then doing so would open the door to any crackpot. There is normative value in making change hard, even if in specific cases, this comes across as cruelty, corruption, and so forth. We could do a lot worse. Government in large part exists because people favor corruption over bloodshed. Are you any different? What is today your hobby was something some ancestor of yours doubtlessly lost their lives over. It is fine to be a little demoralized now and again, but let us not spread the gospel of the needlessly catastrophic. Such an outlook is highly disrespectful to the reality of our collective situation and our history.

If you have an alternative formulation to govern man, which is somehow neither resistant to your own ideas, nor any opposition of your neighbors, please describe it.

Until then:

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time...

[dopidopHN2]

Oh,there is a constitutional basis to what we're doing. The 4th amendment regulate searches and seizure.

I would like the government bodies that have to follow the constitution to respect that.

When Flock track movement at scale, when skydio film with uncanny accuracy, when Leonardo build a unique id from your devices. This is infringement. ( See : kyllo vs USA )

I'm playing by the rules of democracy here. And yet you want to explain to me that democracy is hard and compromise frustrating.

Yes, I know! And I'm not asking for another system. I'm asking for accountably, transparency in decision, and actual representation of the voters.

--

I've talk a lot. Do you think there is a problem in 2026 with local laws enforcement buying military grade surveillance services from private company without oversight ?

Or is it normal ? Maybe I should just chill and pick another hobby. Who care after all? Our leaders know better, I should trust them, their will be no abuse! Not here.

[godwinson__4-8]

The only thing I am pushing back against is your exhortations to fatalism. Let's be clear about how you started this thread. Walking your critique back to something more reasonable is appreciated.

Best of luck in the councils to come.

[dopidopHN2]

Where do I exhort to fatalism? That would mean : "there is nothing to be done, why bother"

Let's not turn the table here, I'm the one with a hobby of parsing system logs from surveillance system to prove that police forces are abusing it.

That's not exactly the definition of "letting fate decide". I'm taking action to support my beliefs . To both society and the legal system of our country.

What you might have confused with fatalism is my bleak view on our elected officials. I do have low esteem of them. But I don't think that all elected official are bad. I think they mostly stay too long in power and end up clinging to it, and, yes, getting corrupted in the process.

That last part often bring gasp and shock. But we have to come to term with it: as you stated, no humans are angel, and our elected official have problems.

Nothing that could not be fixed with the right amount of accountability.