Secure digital identities for Web users

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by flyash

It amazes me how much faith people put in government to do the right thing and not abuse its powers. The history of nations is littered with abuse of power. It is a constant danger, and nations that cede too much power to the government are most at risk.

An armed, vigilant and skeptical citizenry is the best protection we have against government abuse of power.

"It amazes me how much faith people put in government", and then complain about government conspiracies.

Political power is like heroin. Gotagotaotaotaota have it. Can'tcan'tcan'tcan'tcan't loose it.

But in the end, it is the people that are to blame. Starting about 17,000 years ago this country was settled by waves of motivated people. The dreams of our ancestors have died. We're soon to enter a new dark ages.

Could be a good time to read the Foundation series by Heinlein'


POP QUIZ
Who said " ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

A) George Washington
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Martin Luther King jr
D) Don't know

I'm betting that some will get it wrong. And please don't give out the answer.

[flyash]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

History is also littered with the results of anarchy and lack of social order.

I’m not suggesting no government at all.

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Governments are not by definition evil, and condemning them all because of the bad deeds of some isn't fair or reasonable.

Governments are run by people. Power has a very strong tendency to corrupt people. We should assume it will happen and be grateful if it doesn't.

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Governments do function best with reliable, public oversight... something the worst offenders of governments did/do not have. The U.S., for example, is set up to provide reliable, public oversight in most cases, and when used, has proven to be effective.

However, as citizens become more complacent and willing to let others do the heavy lifting for them, oversight has been neglected, and when it is, bad decisions are often made.

So, instead of condemning all governments, we should be condemning the citizens that cede their duty of oversight, and allow the governments to abuse their power...

I agree that citizens have collectively ceded their duty. But consider the creeping nature of government encroachment. Many things seem justifiable to the citizenry at the time, with very few imagining how this would be used in the future (secure digital identities being a perfect example). Also, consider how little an informed individual’s vote counts against the monied interests that influence the elections and simply buy politicians.

Lastly, consider that the government (and big business) propaganda/marketing techniques have become very powerful over the last century. Much of it is now aimed at the subconscious – and this is very difficult to defend against, even if you are aware of the techniques used.

That said, the citizenry have a duty to keep themselves informed and educating others. But I wouldn’t count on the masses to get smart enough to prevent government abuse of power.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

The only reason government can "creep up" on us at all is that we spend too much time taking afternoon naps, instead of doing our civic duty. We can prevent politicians from ruling by bribes. We can prevent our country going bankrupt over oil. The fact that we don't is a clear indication that we just don't want to bad enough.

As you said, the government is made of people... you and me. So don't blame government... blame you and me.

And guess what? We don't all have to be smart. Was everyone in the country as smart as Thomas Jefferson? As Ben Franklin? As Martin Luther King? No. Fortunately, we had smart guys to lead the rest of us.