Hope and Fear

We live in very perilous times.  More often than not, perilous times also tend to be interesting times.  And because of who we are and what we do, interesting times can turn out to be very inspirational and constructive.

So how should we be feeling?  Scared?  Hopeful?  Nervous?  Anyone paying any attention will feel all of this and more in the course of a few minutes just by going through the headlines.  Will we have any privacy at all when the dust settles?  Are we going to be next on the list of enemies of the state?  Is there a chance, however small, that we can help to influence the direction our society is going in and get it to arrive at a better place?

We have no crystal ball so any outcome is really possible.  But there are certain givens and these seem to be manifested in a few distinct outlooks.  Not paying attention to the bad stuff and living life in a detached state (not reading newspapers or keeping up to date on the major developments) is perhaps the single most harmful thing you can do.  Apathy is a great thing for those who want to push society in a particular direction without opposition.

Conversely, becoming fixated by the negative developments will only foster a permanent disillusionment that will prevent you from seeing anything positive, not to mention keep other people from wanting to be anywhere near you.  And of course, there are the hopelessly naive who - while they may be paying attention and not letting their spirits be crushed - believe that there's not much they can do and that everything will somehow work itself out in the end.

We need to find space somewhere in the middle of these three groups.  That means paying attention, not letting it all drive you crazy, and believing that you have the power to effect change.  It's really quite incredible how few people there are who are able to fit into this category and not get vacuumed into one of the doomed outlooks.  But this too can have a positive spin: If you manage to become one of these few, your actions will mean all the more.  You may have already noticed this on a smaller scale.

If you're currently in school, look around you.  Do most people seem to not really care?  Is it all about just getting it over with for them?  In such a setting, someone who actually cares can really get a lot done just by getting involved.  Whether or not you think this is even a halfway worthwhile environment to attempt to influence, it seems obvious that it's an ideal setting to learn how to interact, stand up for what you believe in, and see how opposition expresses itself.

So let's get back to the real world where there's an awful lot to be concerned with.  The so-called (((war on terror))) is the best thing that could have happened to those interested in building a surveillance state.  Fear is their ally.  Without it, the paving over of privacy would be so much harder to justify.  People would recognize the trends as something they saw in some science fiction story somewhere.  The eroding of individual liberties and the expansion of governmental control has been prophesied so many times that it would almost seem to be inevitable.

There doesn't seem to be much doubt that the desire to control all that is around us is a somewhat negative aspect of our human nature.  But individuality is another part of human nature and we can't help but notice that over the entire course of history, this individuality never seems to be crushed.  We see no reason why things have to be different now.  While fear may be steering most of us at the moment, that simply can't last forever.

Here are some of the current items of interest.  Over recent months, we've seen technology introduced that can scan thousands of license plates within a minute.  In this age of abductions and stolen cars, we never have to worry again.  Of course, we can also never expect to get away with an overdue library book once the computers start talking to each other.  And how long before the very idea of not knowing where someone is becomes a thing of the past?

In a highly publicized incident, three Texas men who had purchased several hundred cell phones were arrested on suspicion of being possible terrorists.  Why?  Because cell phones could be used as detonators.  And if one cell phone could blow up a plane, imagine how many thousands of lives might have been at risk here.

Or, failing that, prepaid cell phones (as these were) could be used to hide identities.  People involved in terrorism prefer to hide their identities, don't they?  Add to this the fact that these men had Middle Eastern heritage and most people bought into the whole thing.  Not as many heard when the charges were dropped due to there being no evidence of any wrongdoing.

And more recently in New York, a satellite television installer made all the headlines when he was arrested for being a terrorist conspirator after hooking up the al-Manar network in people's homes.  The U.S. government has defined al-Manar as a terrorist television network.  The public reaction to these accusations has been one of horror.  But, failing any actual financial connection to this network, this is something that has never before been seen as a crime in our country.  We may not like hate speech but it is within our rights to read it, listen to it, or watch it if we so desire.  People being arrested for watching foreign television broadcasts used to be something that only happened in dictatorial regimes.  Now it's one small step away from happening right here.

There are many more similar stories going on and it's all set on the backdrop of wasteful military adventures overseas and our own crumbling infrastructure.  It may seem as if it's hopeless and that the vast majority of people are being shamefully manipulated.  And there's a degree of truth in that.  But with every one of these stories that gets reported, we find more people questioning the conclusions and speaking out against the absurdities.  If it were truly a lost cause, we never would have even gotten to that stage.

Of course, we have a lot of reason to hold onto our optimism.  We've just come out of a HOPE summer.  Every two years we have a Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York City and they always seem to inspire a lot of people to get involved, be creative, and, yes, be hopeful.  There are a lot of things to be optimistic about and a lot of really talented people who have managed to hold onto their positive outlooks.

The mere fact that we're able to do this is cause for celebration.  It's impossible to be disillusioned about the current state of affairs when you get to see thousands of people learning, sharing, and building new technological toys.  Sure, new developments in technology can be used for bad purposes.  Almost anything can be.  Technology can also be used in very positive ways if we're not afraid to dive in and learn how to control it.

Developments in RFID and GPS technologies can be used for all sorts of tracking applications.  But there are always ways of defeating or confusing the devices.  And who says we are the only ones to be monitored?  At the conference, attendees not only learned ways to protect themselves but also discovered how to track the trackers and find all sorts of interesting info.

VoIP technology also has shown itself to be a major catalyst of change.  Used properly, individuals can have the power to establish voice links all over the world using extremely cheap or completely free methods - power that would have been unheard of a mere handful of years ago.  It didn't have to move in this direction.  VoIP could have become a commercially controlled product, as the entire Internet could have.  Individual visions have not died in our arena because people have grabbed the tools and started building without waiting for permission.

We could go on for a very long time with the subject matter that inspired so many at HOPE.  Everything from becoming the media to urban exploring to encryption developments to wireless technology.  But what really matters in the end and what will determine whether or not we conquer the fear and apathy surrounding us is whether enough people have been inspired to question and to defy that which goes against our sense of freedom.