this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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Privacy
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What always freaks me out is people considering their government worse than the likes of Meta, Palantir, Google, Microsoft... At least you can vote (hopefully) for a different government. The problem is when the companies are able to buy governments, like USA is.
You can vote for the party that supports Meta/Palantir/Google/Microsoft or you can vote for the other party that supports Meta/Palantir/Google/Microsoft
🌈 But with rainbows 🌈
Is Apple excluded?
What a reductive thing to say.
Maybe you should look at who has been expanding the surveillance state for the past 25 years, because it's essentially a bipartisan issue in Congress and all administration. Edit to expand on my point, but the Democrats continued sycophancy to giant corporations and refusal to enact policies to benefit actual people is why America has accelerated towards fascism for the past 30 years.
Agreed. But the point they're making (wittingly or unwittingly) isn't "they're both directly and indirectly responsible for the rise of the surveillance state."
The fundamental point is: "Both parties are the same because of this one issue." And that position is reductive to the point of being indistinguishable from the positions of centrists and conservatives, both of which often prefer easy-to-digest, broad-stroke politics over wrestling with the nuances.
No one said they were, but you're disappointed that they aren't.
Thanks for putting words in my mouth and talking down to me.
No, the point I'm making is that both parties serve the same masters. Look at who Meta/Palantir/Google/Microsoft donate to, do you think they're wasting their money when they give millions and millions to both parties?
To what end? What's the logical conclusion people should draw from this?
I mean, yes, but to which party do they give more? You're essentially saying "follow the money." Here's where the money went in 2024. You'll note that the top eight biggest donors gave to Republicans.
They might serve the same masters, but the masters have favorites and not by accident.
Instead of only engaging in politics every few years when its time to vote, people should be politically active all year and engaged in struggle in the workplace and on the streets. Minneapolis shows the way - they didn't vote to get rid of Kristi Noem, they forced her out by taking to the streets and by launching a general strike. Voting might be part of a larger strategy, but only part of one.
Tech companies and people who work in tech tend to give more to Democrats. Palatir is an exception to this general rule, but Meta/Alphabet/Microsoft were mostly behind Harris in the 2024 election. Does this surprise you for some reason?
People confuse cynicism with wisdom.
It's easy to be cynical, it takes effort to be wise.
Cynicism is a legitimate form of pre-Socratic philosophy.
we could it would just take an unprecidented change in voter sympathies.
better just do nothing because that works way better
Gotta vote to keep a clear conscience for what comes next
Go away with your doomer memes.
You know what else won't work, performative cynicism without any actual contribution.
People are stuck in web 1.0 and web 2.0 thought patterns when it comes to privacy.
You're not kidding, that's for sure.
My wife watched a video about ICE surveillance last night and she couldn't believe they are building databases or protestors or holding airport photos of immigrants for 75 years. Normies do not understand just how bad it is, they think pointing out all this stuff is crazy conspiracy theory.
100% of the data is out there for every single action we do now. Everything we say (smartphones, 'smart' devices), Where we are driving, when we are driving, when we are out and about, who we are with, who we exchange messages with, how much money we make, what we spend it on, everything we comment on the internet, all of our browser history, every message we exchange on nearly all platforms... everything is for sale. 1984 is technically feasible, today. We're so close it's terrifying.
I started talking to a friend about this and he called me a tin foil hat wearing conspiracist and said even if it's true him and his company is making money off of it so he doesn't care.
that one is new to me (i have had The Shit to sort through and missed a couple things) but i absolutely do not doubt it.
i used to help a support group and one of my favorite dudes was an absolute conspiracy geek. he loved them a little too much. i mean i love a bigfoot story as much as the next dude, and the one after them and then the next too as the trio curls up with bigfoot in a nice warm consensual snuggle pit with coffee and silly hats what were we talking about? right it's kind of weird having the guy who lost it over Jade Helm seem... right? about most things. i mean we were all a little off our nut (and i still am) but he needed the most help and validation. wish he were still here so i could get his thoughts.