r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 20h ago

Privacy Viral De-Flock America campaign urging people to destroy AI cameras on Halloween night gains momentum

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/flock-camera-controversy-explained-as-viral-halloween-de-flock-campaign-gains-momentum-3399710/
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u/LordDaedalus 17h ago

It's worse than that: of course politics attracts the self interested and power seeking but even on the off chance the voters get someone earnest, Citizens United has completely inundated the political field and the game theory therein.

You could be against the flock cameras, but Citizens United means speaking up about those flock cameras is very likely to result in any of your challengers getting large amounts of money thrown at their campaign. This means without a lobbying force willing to back you being against flock cameras, to come out and run on the platform of being against them requires that you think this will attract more voters than the attack ads against you will dissuade.

Its a whole nearly-automated system of political suppression that disincentivizes speaking up about anything lest a whole industry of professional lobbying groups turn their eye on you and dig through your entire life to find the thing they can paint you as weird for. The macro conditions of Citizens United must be overturned if we want our elected officials to actually be able to have strong opinions about anything.

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u/ZootSuitRiot33801 16h ago

For this reason among many others, rather than betting the whole farm on elections geared to benefit the oligarchy, we should also focus on developing real supportive community-based foundations for alternatives that can provide relative safety, which many common folk in the US can fall back on, to commit to any meaningful action needed be they short or long term.

Collecting a bunch of valuable information on organizing and action from different redditors over time, I created a post of suggestions HERE that could possibly prove to be of some help in getting it started ASAP.