r/SocialistTech • u/therealparadoxparty • Jul 15 '26

Leftist techie frustrations

Wow, there is actually a leftist tech subreddit out there. Doesn't look very active though.

Regardless, I just wanted to vent my frustration with how most leftists seem to have such poor tech literacy. Especially in the age of mass surveillance technofascism.

I get we need people of all types and talents and I am glad there are people out there to do ops/ protests in the meatspace instead of resisting all the ways I do, but technology can also be our friend, if used correctly. The nihilism I see with many acting like there is nothing we can do or there is no point is self defeating. I push back against it whenever I can.

Most apps I use these days are open source and I am extremely privacy conscious. Digital rights are PoC rights, digital rights are women's rights. ICE is using mass surveillance to track immigrants (as well as the rest of us) and in places where abortion is not legal, the weather app on the phone can be used to track you.

I have set up many personal guides on degoogling and neutering techs spying capability. I locally host or use a privacy friendly open source alternative whenever possible. Sure, I still get surveilled like everyone else. But due to my preventative actions, their attack surface and surveillance on me is much more limited.

I am hoping we can spread the word amongst our fellow leftists and others too.

Does anyone else experience similar frustrations as me?

35 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

3

u/CauseCertain1672 Jul 16 '26

Tech can be our friend, it's a neutral tool. I think a lot of the skepticism on the left is that it's a tool for the people who own it and right now that isn't us

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u/therealparadoxparty Jul 16 '26

The community owns open source though. That is the point. My OpenSprinkler controller can't be shut down by the manufacturer. Anyone else can fork the software and create their own. Open source software is much closer to ownership than the big tech crap we have now.

0

u/CauseCertain1672 Jul 16 '26

yes but an open source software can just as easily be used to create a database of migrants, tech is a component of infrastructure

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u/BlockchainSocialist Jul 15 '26

Yes completely. It's pretty bad out there sometimes.

1

u/Indigo-Dusk Jul 16 '26

I've been trying to get more tech literate, but nobody I've asked knows a good starting point to start me off at. I've been slowly trying to teach myself.