5 reasons why your privacy is vanishing. 5 steps to Using DIGG to fight IT!
If you're new here at 2thinknow, and you're interested in the latest ideas on trends, companies and innovation, subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for your visit!
COMMENT, Melbourne, Australia — First of all let me say I am not partisan. I vote right, I vote left.
Personally, I think Giuliani, Gore, Clinton and McCain would all make good presidents at different times. Professionally I think Gore, Giuliani and Clinton may all lead to good outcomes for innovation.
The Left/Right divide is increasingly irrelevant, in any case. In a prior analysis from 2thinknowTM I made the case that the real contest is between Engaged and Not Engaged. See: Election innovation: why Left & Right don’t matter.
How Bush happened:
The people who are ‘Not Engaged’ have voted for Bush twice. Those people elected someone who has basically destroyed all the freedoms you take for granted. I’m not talking about minority freedoms.
The only thing that has slowed Bush doing more to destroy the USA’s proud heritage of laws are the checks and balances made by men 230 years ago in the Constitution.
I’m specifically talking about the freedom not to be listened to by the State.
Fortunately the current bill has a 6-month expiry (thank you Congress) before we get too hysterical. But the worrying thing is the sum total of Bush’s actions in terms of the war on intellect, diversity, debate, rights and privacy.
But here is 5 reasons why this latest change, and all of the other Bush changes are worrying:
5 reasons to be concerned
5. It has been a well known ’secret’ that everything we say online is monitored to some extent. This capability to collect data is now enhanced.
4. Volume of data has always been a protective factor in reading individual messages. This is no longer the case due to massive storage capability and the data mining industry. So the capability to store & mine data is now enhanced.
3. The precedent of using confidential data for political purposes is now a regular occurence. Recall the outspoken Iraq critic whose CIA agent wife was ‘outed’ by a political operative. That was not a sole case.
2. Governments are now better resourced to understand the intelligence from data mining. Incompetence has played a part, but government is now catching up, especially the new agencies. Bush has spent a lot of funds on intelligence resourcing.
1. Citizens seem powerless. Everything is Partisan. Wedge politics is the order of the day. The real reason is concentration of media power into fewer hands. Hello Rupert!
Here’s an old (true) joke: Rupert Murdoch’s publications once in the 1970s supported Gough Whitlam, as leader of Australia. Gough would be kindly called a socialist, but realistically almost communist extreme-Left. Now his publications ostensibly support Bush/Cheney, an extreme-right White House.
Do Fox News viewers know that Murdoch was Left, and is now Right?
Rupert in my opinion just goes where he thinks the power is. But to be honest Rupert has ever increasing Power. According to Rupert’s numerous biographies a reasonable person could reasonably infer Rupert has a track record of interfering with editors and hiring editors who ‘fit’ the slant of the paper.
It is probable that Rupert’s Fox News have pushed all media to the Right or Left, not to the middle as news of record.
“‘Partisan’ means I will argue what I believe in by yelling loudly over top of the other guy, not because I am right, but because I am loud I shall win”.
– Christopher Hire, 2005. (ahem, me.)
Stop. You can do something however.
The 5 ways YOU can stop decline of ideas: using Digg and other sites
These steps are easy. Have a think about them. Even if you just do 2 steps, it all helps.
5. Book mark good intelligent analysis and news in digg. Vote for intelligent news.
4. Do not vote for Paris, Lindsey or other stories.
3. Keep all the stupid stuff on Myspace. Seriously. Segregate. Vote for the stupid stuff on Myspace or other sites.
2. Use StumbleUpon & De.licio.us regularly and submit any great news articles within your areas of interest: politics, art, business, environment.
1. Have all your friends do steps above.
Repeat as required, every time you fume with rage at the latest atrocity.
You know the Wall Street Journal was a minor business rag once.
Digg and others have a chance to be massive and global content sources.
By making intelligent analysis and news (from reputable sites) important by voting for it, you can counter the crushing of freedom, before the old folks like Rupert who run media catch-up on the controls.
Social media like Digg.com or stumbleupon.com or wordpress.com are on the innovation zeitgeist.
Now it’s your turn to make sure they have something important to say.
What will the archaelogists say when they unearth our old machines, turn them on a 100 years from now and read?
Will they say “What bright lively people?” Or will they say, “Who is Paris Britney Lohan anyway?”
It’s up to you folks, so Digg & Stumble wisely.
According to 2thinknowTM innovation models and analysis Digg & StumbleUpon are big parts of a huge innovation shift within a 2-4 year time frame.
Take care,
Christopher
Speaker. Author. Editor-In-Chief. Executive Director of Innovation, 2thinknow.
What's your View?
Or Follow us on Twitter or StumbleUpon