101 : Don’t create data you don’t want in the wrong hands.

TVs, cars, smart fridges, in fact “Smart” anything.

Yeah, I broadly agree. I think a lot of the issue is inequality that has been only getting worse since 2008.

The source? Well I’ve always suspected some of that is Russia. MAGA too, but they get a load Russian support too. I think it’s online bot farms as much as just out right corruption/donations/lobbying. When Ukraine defeats Russia, I wonder what knockons it will have.

Same problems though. If you run something odd ball like Ubuntu, the banking apps won’t work and you may struggle to have a satnav with traffic info. If you run stock Android, you will soon only be able to install, sorry, “side load”, apps Google approves.

Me too, but the lords of Technofeudalism, backed by government, won’t allow that forever. Maybe on PCs, but not phones. No “side loading” what they don’t approve. Banks and co, only allowing their apps on approved OSs. No satnav traffic data unless you use an approved satnav, rendering them useless.

The problem isn’t technological, it’s political. We need decent government protecting citizens and enforcing competition laws. The problem is the population don’t understand what is being done to them, so don’t vote against it.

None of it is new. Liberty vs security, monopoly, etc, aren’t new, but wrapping it in technology blinds most people to it.

Good podcast about this bubble bursting : https://craphound.com/news/2025/10/06/the-real-economic-ai-apocalypse-is-nigh/

There are groups to support:

• https://www.eff.org/issues/eff-europe
• https://fsfe.org/
• https://edri.org/

And in the UK:

• https://www.openrightsgroup.org/

Some political groups are better than others, but most politicians are clueless.

The key is to get muggles to understand we are living in Technofeudalism and why being digital serfs is bad. The problem is ineffective competition law and that monopolies are bad. That monopolies and standards are not the same thing. I have no idea how. Most people are just naturally compliant and unquestioning of something seemingly so abstract.

Then again, people around him tell him what he wants to hear. Like Ukrainians will welcome his troops in…

The goold old analog hole.

A single state solution would be lovely, but after Germany, you can see why Jews want a country of their own. However, none of that gives an excuse to take more land from neighbors. Let alone doing their own ethnic cleansing in that land.

Germany existed before and after the Nazis. Israel wasn’t always ruled by extremists and should be there when they are gone.

It’s a shame Palestine and Israel are divided by religion, but as an atheist, maybe I’m not going to get it.

We need to be a bit careful with “from the river to the sea” as to many in Israel, that is a call for Israel’s destruction.

It’s not Israel or Palestine that can exist. We want them both to exist, in peace. Angry at Israel’s genocide though we all are, few are calling for Israel to cease to exist. That’s what Israel is doing to Palestine.

Interesting. “The value of the damage.” I’d say it’s pretty likely the Banksy worked increased the value of the wall, if not the whole property. So is that negative damage? The people who decreased the value where those who tried to clean off the artwork.

Exterminate the people and claim the land. Lovely…

This is the nub of the issue. Markets need effective competition. Without it, you get fiefdoms and serfs, and shit products. Antitrust laws have been terrible for decades. Thanks to broken political thinking. Smash up the tech monopolies and not just tech will improve.

FPTP could easily give us fascists who will do to UK democracy what they have to the US.

So we dont buy US military kit. It’s got kill switches and hard to keep running without their support. It’s increasing looking like they aren’t aligned with the free world.

So we agree countries are really a shades of grey. Personally, I would move more infrastructure to state ownership in the UK. Other countries it is up to them, though the US private health is clearly an epic murderous fail. As long as the setup doesn’t make trade unfair and start tariff problems.

In the UK monarchy is symbolic. They can’t take sides on anything officially. If they did, it would be a scandal. Most democracies with a monarchy are similar or have them not even symbolically part of the system. Their power is purely adversely and in networking.

Based on rumour and the queens dresses at the time, and family history, it is widely thought the queen did not want Brexit. But it happened anyway. It brought down the PM of the time as well. In fact it was the start of a series of short lived PMs. Mainly because Brexit is a batshit idea and the promises made are incompatible with each other and reality! Arguably the press was a bit too free. Free from fact. All suboptimal, but doesn’t back you ruling Bourgeoisie angle. I’m pretty sure we be back in the EU one day anyway due to demographics and economic realities.

I say again, it can only up to the people of Taiwan if they are assimilated into China. If they vote for it, (I recommended a 66+% super majority to avoid Brexit 52% nonsense) I’d have no issue. If they don’t and are just invaded, I have a big issue with it. Like I do with Russia invading Ukraine and Israel’s genocide.

The trueth is all the countries you are calling capitalist because are probably all mixed economies. With a lot owned by the state. Here in the UK that includes our health service, education system, roads, the electricity grid, and more. Rail is being renationalised and water probably will have to be too as its privatisation (by the Conservatives in the 80s) has been an epic fail. The key difference is these countries can peacefully kick out the government and the government is answerable to laws. Laws it sets. We recently had a PM brought down for breaking his own Covid laws. We have free press holding governments to account. All kind of freedom of information and transparency.

China started out more communist than if is now. More like the USSR.

Taiwan is mixed economy like western democracies, and doesn’t want to be like China. Which is why China is having to talk about inflicting it by force.