Does anyone else feel as if it's over when it comes to really owning your own things?
As of now:
- You don't have the option of having a phone with decent specs and replaceable parts
- You have to have really good knowledge in tech to have private services that are on par with what the big companies offer
- You have to put up with annoying compatibility issues if you install a custom ROM on your android phone
- You cannot escape apps preventing you from using them if you root your device
- Cars are becoming SaaS bullcrap
- Everything is going for a subscription model in general
And now Google is attempting to implement DRM on websites. If that goes through, Firefox is going to be relegated to privacy conscious websites (there aren't many of those). At this point, why even bother? Why do I go to great lengths at protecting my privacy if it means that I can't use most services I want?
It sucks because the obvious solution is for people to move away from these bullshit companies and show that they actually care about their privacy. Even more important is to actually PAY for services they like instead of relying on free stuff. I'm not optimistic not just because the non privacy conscious side is lazy, but because my side is greedy. I mean one of the most popular communities on lemmy is "piracy" which makes it all the more reasonable for companies not to listen to privacy conscious people.
I wouldn't say that this is the endgame but in this trajectory, privacy is gone before 2030.
You will forever have these feelings, if you have a better world than the status quo in mind. Be careful to not be overwhelmed by them, if you suffer too much long term you could give up or become a cynic. Nothing is perfect, we strive to make better systems (and smartphones).
Yeah I guess it never really was perfect. But this one really caught me off guard since I took it for granted that the web is more free than the walled gardens that Google and Apple make. But the FOSS community is making some cool stuff these days that we gotta focus on.
“Just pretend this dystopia is a utopia and you’ll be fine!”
No just don't pretend we live in a dystopia, things could be worse. Could be better as well though...
Who’s pretending?
If you think this is a dystopia, I have a lot of books for you to read.
There's a lot of dystopian shit going down, but (assuming you hail from a first world country) we are definitively not living in one.
Wean yourself off news media, limit your consumption of it. They literally make their money through keeping eyes watching. The easiest way to do that is to keep viewers feeling like there are ongoing crises constantly and to stoke visceral emotional response in their readership/viewership as much as possible.
This is not some issue siloed off to news organizations that lean to one political side or the other, it is an inherent result of how they all generate revenue in the modern age. They are all optimizing for ad impressions.
These are hard times, not end times.
Your suggestions are appreciated but they were not asked for - I don’t like pretending.
My wife is a journalism major and I’m very involved locally in politics.
Weaning myself off the news won’t make the planet any cooler during this time.
Weaning myself off the news doesn’t stop those with money and influence from being above the law.
Weaning myself off the news doesn’t change anything, except make me less informed.
Ignorance may be bliss to some, but to others it’s just ignorance. Downvote away, but honestly I’ll stick to this until we have an actual Utopia (without slaves).
Fuck yeah, this is the right attitude. It absolutely takes more mental effort and acuity to shift through the piles of absolute bullshit produced by modern media to generate rage and clicks and engagement, however, expending that energy to do so is so fucking important.
Checking out and being like "the news makes me too upset" is kind of part of the problem. Honestly, if you're not fucking furious every minute of every day for the horrors modern humans suffer under the richest nations on the planet, you're not paying the fuck attention, and that's on you.
And here we have an intense difference in world view.
If you're actually "fucking furious every minute of every day", you have a serious emotional issue. And you're hiding behind this idea that reading more news has any reflection on mental acuity to justify it. Effort, hell yes it takes more effort, but fuck off with elitism over your righteous anger.
You don't need to sift through all the piles of absolute bullshit to stay informed, or to be aware of all the horroble shit in the world. It doesn't take a concentrated effort to be aware. It does take a concentrated effort to stay emotionally invested in things that don't directly effect you, and I'm of the opinion that effort is much better spent taking action, or simply doing what you can to better your small slice of the world every day.
Unfortunately it is extremely unlikely for any of us to have significant impact on large scale issues in the world. Stay reasonably informed, do what you can, and get on with your life. No sense in wallowing when there's far better uses of time and energy.
Nuance status: out the window
I find it hard to play make believe as an adult.
I mean “You’re right. Everything is fine.”
You threw out the baby with the bathwater here.. they're saying you can be hopeful while still facing reality. Hopelessness like this is useless. Woe is me, let's do nothing. Worthless perspective tbqh
Who said I do nothing?
I’m on the leadership board for my local political party’s senate district as a Table Officer.
I help field manage and campaign with leftist candidates door knocking weekly (edit: and my candidates win).
I’m pretty involved.
Maybe I do those things because of my “worthless perspective”… but… what do you do?
How are you making change? What are you doing besides throwing insults at a person who is helping, especially when volunteers are so hard to come by?
Edit: As you can tell, I’m all “woe is me, let’s do nothing…”
Your perspective stated above doesn’t align with my idea of someone who would be politically active. I’m glad you are fighting the good fight instead of simply participating in slacktivism, and I wasn’t trying to imply that you personally did nothing. I’m implying that your stated perspective above discourages action by instilling a sense of hopelessness.
I am also politically active although not to the degree you are; I participate in protests and mutual aid as well as other smaller forms of political activism. I do as much as I can given my mental health, which is an ever increasing amount as I grow and heal.
If you are participating in politics, you should know that perspective and optics are massively important. Saying “we’re all doomed and there’s no point!” can be harmful, actually. Maybe it helps motivate you, but for most people it’s disheartening.
Awesome, but who said there’s no point? Like, literally. Where?
Maybe you implied that from what I said, but there was no such verbiage.
It’s important to be clear in communicating. I’m sorry that you misunderstood one throw-away line and made an assumption of who I was based on that.
And thank you for the reply, sincerely.
While the fault may be mine for my assumption, it's also good to analyze why someone might construe your comment in that way. Have a nice day!