Snowden has highlighted the problem of oppressive governmental spying. His solution is for people to acquire better security, better encryption. I think security is the wrong issue to focus on.
On 5 June 2014, to mark the one year anniversary of his leaks, Snowden backed a campaign to reset the net.
CNET wrote: "...Internet advocates have launched a pro-privacy campaign and day of action called Reset the Net. Not only have some top tech titans signed on, like Google, Mozilla, and Reddit, but Snowden himself has also thrown his weight behind the movement."
It is wrong to fight back against governments. Attacking or defending in the manner of two stags charging towards each other is the wrong type of fight. Head-to-head antler-locked tussling is an unintelligent waste of energy.
In the JKD style we need to resemble water flowing around obstacles. We should bend in the manner of a reed in the wind. In the Tai Chi style shouldn't meet violent force with hardness because both sides are likely to be damaged. The solution is to gracefully redirect our opponent's energy. Via softness we should channel the hardness of our opponent's energy into common goals.
Quinn Norton is another person who wastes energy on security issues. Quinn explained how activists and journalists need strong privacy, then she described reactions from people in the security scene: "Some of them joined my side of the time-wasting inconsequential Twitter fights, realizing that something, even something imperfect, might be better than nothing."
Tackling the symptoms isn't the answer to these problems. We should instead direct our effort at the root cause. Scarcity is the cause of all hostility. Scarcity is the cause behind the need to control, dominate, or spy upon people. It is all about the battle to control limited resources.
Resources in our asteroid belt will support life and habit for ten quadrillion people, but people are focused on petty battles. Conflict rages while many people are unaware of colossal riches in our solar system. Planetary Resources is raising awareness but people typically don't appreciate how rich our universe is.
NBC News states there are 8.8 billion habitable Earth-size planets in the Milky Way: "Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone, there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-size planets in the habitable temperature zone."
Scarcity is the cause of all our problems. Directing effort at the source of all our problems will be the most efficient usage of our energy. Note this video by Peter Diamandis:
Technology erodes scarcity. In an ideal world Snowden would be focused powerfully on the Singularity, he would focus on powerful technology, which I know he at least has a partial interest in. Snowden's girlfriend at the time of his leaks was apparently aware of the Singularity. Observe the book she is reading, she is reading Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near.
Snowden and everyone else should be urging people to heavily invest in and support AI, nanotechnology, 3D-printing, stem cells, synbio, robotics, basic-income. Focusing on radical technology would be the most productive usage of our campaigning effort. Only via radical technology can we truly stop all oppression. Only via the acceleration of radical technology can we truly attain a free future.
Our world would be very different if Google, Mozilla, Reddit, and Snowden generated powerful awareness of the Singularity. People need to realise in the not too distant future everything will be free, furthermore we will all be immortal. When the Singularity happens there will be no crime, no police, no governments. This is where we should focus our efforts instead of resetting the net. We shouldn't waste our time and energy on the petty battles of a scarcity-world.
Snowden has brilliant platform to raise awareness of our radical future, but he has wasted his opportunity via trivial fighting against the NSA. He needs to use his intelligence more wisely. We should accelerate technology instead of worrying about security.
Our effort must address the root of the problem. Domination of people will only end when radical technology abolishes scarcity. Radical technology will enable access to limitless resources. Let's focus on accelerating radical technology to really make a difference.
