whythecynic

As someone who grew up in such an "Eastern" culture, it's just as individualistic and profit-centered. Financial success at any cost is a common worldview.

Which is why, somewhat ironically, I think you're right. Competition between groups of survivors will drive the rebuilding process, while the individualism-repressing aspects will work great to ensure compliance and suppress dissent within the group itself.

Basically, we'd be setting the stage for and gambling on an enlightened dictator, who have been the patrons of progress for much of humanity anyway.

During COVID, I saw many governments jump at the opportunity to track their citizens in the name of... well, because they could. Singapore, for example, rolled out mandatory tracking apps and you had to sign in to every public space you visited.

Where do you see the cold war between governments (who always want to be able to pry into peoples' lives) and privacy advocates (who don't want them to be able to) going?

Is the push against privacy going to be legislative, pushing through laws that force software being written to have backdoors? Is it going to be cultural, digging up dirt on privacy advocates, getting people used to and accepting of being surveilled? Do you think there's going to be a good old-fashioned roundup of people working in the field and giving them the choice of working for the government or taking a long walk to nowhere?

I'd like to see a future where we can live our lives with a reasonable expectation of privacy, while still having a society that's interconnected and up-to-date with all the amazing things that technology provides us. Navigating that is going to be difficult though, at least until we get people who grew up with technology into the halls of power.

And I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Yes, exactly. You sound like a great candidate for the Influenzer Initiative! </s>

Best novelty username ever.

Compliment, my good human. You are the voice of a world where most thoughts start with "fuck".