State Power

Motivations behind a cashless society

Cash allows anonymity. It allows people to make transactions without leaving a paper trail via a credit or debit card transaction. But I have nothing to hide you might say! Financial transactions can tell a lot about a person, however. Information you may not want anyone else to know. They can reveal if you have a medical condition, what religion you practice, what organizations you support, and even more.

Via War on Cash? @ Campaign for Liberty.

What’s at Stake 

It’s not about 1 person. It’s not about 1 phone. It’s about the government being able to snoop on all people, on all phones, on all devices, on your TV, PC, even your HVAC and car. The government wants a skeleton key to unlock whatever it wants whenever it wants. This is dangerous in the extreme.

Via This Is the Real Reason Apple Is Fighting the FBI @ AgainstCronyCapitalism.org

Civil rights issue

On Tuesday, the United States District Court of California issued an order requiring Apple to assist the FBI in accessing a locked iPhone (PDF)—and not just any iPhone, but the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. The order is very clear: Build new firmware to enable the FBI to perform an unlimited, high speed brute force attack, and place that firmware on the device.

Apple is not only fighting the request, but posted a public letter signed by Tim Cook and linked on Apple’s front page.

Via Why the FBI’s request to Apple will affect civil rights for a generation @ Macworld.

The Selfish Institution

  “With this being said, I would like to shine a light on an institution that breeds selfishness and exploitation by definition: the State. When we talk about human action, especially in the context of the State, the bottom line is this: most individuals who wield and/or cheer on the use of state power–politicians, bureaucrats,…