

Ask HN: The government has been exposed now what? - esalazar

We now know that our rights and privacy are being violated. What are the next steps? How do we protect and defend ourselves?
======
tokenadult
There is a model for people winning freedom when they never had it before. It
has been applied in some countries. It takes courage and solidarity, but
people power can gain freedom. The most thoughtful writer on the model that
works is Gene Glass of the Albert Einstein Institute. The institute has
several different publications available for free download in multiple
languages,

[http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsde07.html](http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsde07.html)

among which I especially recommend _From Dictatorship to Democracy: A
Conceptual Framework for Liberation_

[http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf](http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf)

as a how-to guide for gaining freedom even when the dictators are willing to
torture and kill to limit freedom. (I have seen one country make a successful
transition from dictatorship to democracy largely by following this conceptual
framework.)

------
rayj
You can fight and win. The government is not omnipotent. Just don't expect to
run a company under the protection of the government.

1\. Use Linux or a similar OS and use full-disk encryption. Truecrypt has a
hidden os function built in ([http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=hidden-
operating-system](http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=hidden-operating-system)).
Maybe the government knows how to crack it, but they won't for bring it out
for minor things like kiddy porn, drug trafficking, lone-wolf terrorists. The
only time this gets used is when there is a suitcase nuke en-route to DC.

2\. The USA lost in Vietnam. The USA/British Empire/USSR have lost in
Afghanistan. With the support of the local population, the army is useless to
stop revolutionaries.

The population is not going to care about government crimes until the
government is shooting people/turns off cellphones&tv&internet. When that
happens you have what happened in the Middle East and might happen in Turkey.

------
joonix
What most people are missing here is that the average American a) doesn't care
b) doesn't actually know what their rights are c) is happy to allow this in
the name of "anti-terrorism."

Seriously, step away from the internet/reddit/HN/blogs and go out on the
street and talk to an average Joe/Jane about where this ranks on their
priorities.

People who think there will be a "revolution" over something like this are
seriously misguided. Revolutions happen when people are _hungry._ The average
American is _not_ starving and will never be rioting in the streets over phone
records.

------
Duhveed
They've got the will and the power to do these things and frankly there's
probably not much we can do about it. The key thing to do is to realize that
the Constitution was the mistake that gave them their power. When they
collapse under their own weight, remember the lesson and start listening to
the folks with the ideas about how to provide services to the community
(roads, security, etc.) without a government to manage it and without waiving
your property rights in the process.

------
kunai
We cannot. Ultimately, it boils down to the sheer audacity of the government
and the fearful (and sometimes, falsely patriotic) apathy of our fellow
citizens. We here on Hacker News are progessives who believe in liberty,
freedom, choice, and equality for everyone.

Unfortunately, outside of our little bubble here online, the rest of the world
is not the same. There are still millions of citizens, blissfully unaware,
perhaps due to either ignorance or fear. Our job now is to educate these
people and teach them that the government is an entity to be trusted no
longer. No longer will elections entail cheering on corrupt candidates who
break promises regardless of the political side they take. No longer will our
citizens stand helpless as the entrenchment of totalitarianism continues
perpetually. No longer will we be a slave to the whims and fancies of our
government.

It's time the government worked for _us_. I think the bozos in command have
all but forgotten that they are nothing but _LOWLY_ _SERVANTS_ , not saints
who can deliver promises and change set upon a lie. We need to change that.
Call your senator. Email your legislature. Tell them your utter
dissatisfaction with this issue. Tell your relatives. If they say they don't
care, follow them around everything they do and ask if they like that. If they
don't, tell them this is what the government is secretly doing. If they still
don't, repeat.

Tell your friends, your relatives, your brothers and sisters, to stand up to
the oppressive government. Don't be hotheaded; now is not the time for
mercurial emotion. Now is the time for reason. If your congresspeople
cooperate, good. If they brush you off, say "fuck you" and hang up (I'm being
blunt here), and vote for a third-party candidate the next time round.

We can make a difference. We will defeat the Empire, the evil, dark Empire
founded by a father whose progeny has gone to the dark side.

Let's do this shit.

~~~
w_t_payne
Sorry, but you cannot and should not fight. The asymmetry in power is too
great. The last thing you want to do is find yourself labelled as a
"troublemaker" or (worse) as an "enemy". The state has an almost unlimited
capacity to ruin the lives of those whom it targets. The best, safest thing
for us all is to keep quiet, stay out of politics, and learn to think
carefully about what we say or do _before_ we say or do it. If you start to
act aggressively, then you run the risk of putting yourself (and the entire
community) in danger. I repeat again (for emphasis): Challenging the agencies
is a sure-fire way to get yourself and those around you into a whole world of
trouble. Do not do it. Do not even think about doing it:- just keep your head
down and keep quiet - for all our sakes.

~~~
PostOnce
The only possible outcome of such behavior is a worsening situation. How is
that defensible?

Nothing risked, nothing gained.

~~~
esalazar
Agreed. The only way for change is to thrash and thrash hard.

~~~
jf22
That sounds very violent...

