politics for the 99%

Yesterday we defeated SOPA, today we battle NSA – Interview with Josh Levy, published on Russia Today RT, Feb 12, 2014.

Properly mobilized people can become a massive online force capable of blocking ‘dangerous bills’ and changing government policies, Josh Levy of the Free Press told RT. The participants of The Day We Fight Back campaign say their call to action is simple.

RT: What are the protesters trying to achieve? How exactly are they supposed to ‘fight back’?

• Josh Levy: This day of action [Wednesday, February 11] is the next stop on the continuum of action that has taken place since Edward Snowden first revealed the extent of the NSA surveillance program back in June. It follows mass protests that took place in Washington DC in October, the huge online protest that took place in June after we’ve found out about all of these things. And what we have seen is that it has really changed the debate not only here in the US but around the world. And more and more people every day have turned away these programs and have tried to find the ways to stop them.  
• And the call to action today is actually very simple. Here in the US, we are asking for Congress to just support the USA Freedom Act, which would put a stop to one of the worst programs – which is the metadata phone collection program – that are collecting data on everybody who we call, where we call from and when we call; and that would make that gathering happen only when authorities have a warrant and would stop the blanket collection that is taking place right now.

RT: Well, Josh, your outlook here sound wildly optimistic, but I must ask you, how has online freedom legislation in the US actually changed, in the recent year or so?

• JL: Well, today is right about the two-year anniversary of the SOPA/PIPA revolt that took place also online with a lot of the same organization getting involved, a lot of the same companies, more than 5,000 websites are participating today.
• What we did back then, 2 years ago, we stopped SOPA and PIPA, which were these dangerous bills that would have allowed online censorship to take place in a rampant way. We stopped them dead cold in the House. People who were sponsoring those bills on Capitol Hill, suddenly announced on Twitter, that they were not sponsoring those Bills anymore, because they have been hearing from their constituents.

RT: With all this NSA snooping and the online actions, Josh, if you’ve got nothing to hide then why does everyone gets so upset about actually being watched?

• JL: I think we have a lot to hide. I don’t see anybody advocating for the removal of curtains in everybody’s house because we have nothing to hide. I think that there’s an expectation of privacy here in the US and around the world that’s not being respected. And when that expectation is not respected, free speech suffers.
• We are much less willing to speak our minds online or offline if we know we’re being watched, recorded and tracked. We’re much less willing to engage in political activism, to assemble, to organize ourselves for whatever causes we believe in, if we feel that authorities are watching our every move. And even if the authorities right now might not necessarily be antithetical to the things we believe in, may be the next president, the next government, the next congress will be, and they will be able to use all this data they’re collecting against us.

RT: With all this NSA snooping and the online actions, Josh, if you’ve got nothing to hide then why does everyone gets so upset about actually being watched?

• JL: I think we have a lot to hide. I don’t see anybody advocating for the removal of curtains in everybody’s house because we have nothing to hide. I think that there’s an expectation of privacy here in the US and around the world that’s not being respected. And when that expectation is not respected, free speech suffers.
• We are much less willing to speak our minds online or offline if we know we’re being watched, recorded and tracked. We’re much less willing to engage in political activism, to assemble, to organize ourselves for whatever causes we believe in, if we feel that authorities are watching our every move. And even if the authorities right now might not necessarily be antithetical to the things we believe in, may be the next president, the next government, the next congress will be, and they will be able to use all this data they’re collecting against us … //

… (full long interview text).

Links:

The Geopolitics of Water in the Nile River Basin, on Global Research.ca, by Prof. Majed A. Rahman, Feb 15, 2014 (first July 24, 2011);

The real costs of making money (5): South-African gold, on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by merijknibbe, Feb 14, 2014, with a graph: By 1914, South-Africa was the world’s top producer of gold. The increase of, mainly, South African gold production is supposed to have ended the 1873-1896 deflation, which indicates that its monetary role was crucial. But who produced this gold and at what price? What kind of labour system was used? And what where the long-term consequences of gold production? …;

Fear and Loathing in Turkey: Erdogan versus the Gulenists, on Global Research.ca (first on RT/Op-edge);

We have an anti-imperialist obligation to the people of Haiti, on Pambazuka News, by Ajamu Nangwaya, Feb 12, 2014: Every free Black person owes a debt of gratitude to the Haitian Revolution. Now Haiti needs you. It is ten years since imperialist forces overthrew Haiti’s democratically elected leader and foisted on them a Western stooge. The people are resisting. Take action …;

The daily we fight back, on Twitter;

Standard Activity vs Malicious Activity – ZoneAlarm, on zonealarm.com, by check point, Oct 29, 2013.