Bonum Certa Men Certa

2020: A Time for Resolutions or Revolutions?

“The mainstream media appears trying to play up violence at the police riots, to rationalize the attacks by the police.” --Techrights associate

Two doors: Resolutions or Revolutions



Summary: There are nonviolent means by which the current system can be corrected; we need to convince peers and relatives to change the way they behave and not cooperate with unjust elements of the system

THE situation in the US has become very serious. So much so that SUSE's CEO has just openly condemned the actions of the US Government on behalf of this German company (it's nuanced, but it's definitely there between the lines). Well done...



"SUSE's CEO has just openly condemned the actions of the US Government on behalf of this German company (it's nuanced, but it's definitely there between the lines)."But...

The Linux Foundation did something similar years ago and it drew fire for it. People expect Zemlin's 'PAC' to deal with technical matters and not meddle in partisan politics the way Mozilla does (their CEO too had done what SUSE's did, roughly a day earlier).

We're not an inherently political site (except Daily Links) and we won't start dealing with the pertinent issues here. We'd rather focus on technology-related aspects.

"...things can be compelled to change and changes can be imposed by nonviolent means."More and more people now speak about "revolution" (there are legitimate reasons for systemic reforms and complete overhauls). I, myself, want to think in lesser terms, such as "resolution"...

Now that many people work from home we need to adapt to a changing world. Next year, in 2021, I'll celebrate 10 years in my current job (maybe there are attempts to cause me trouble again) and at the very end of 2021 I'll turn forty. Yes, how time flies... it feels like only a few years ago I was still a student, having enrolled for the Ph.D. when I was 21 and ambitious (not yet anything like an activist, more of a coder).

I don't condone "revolutions" in any form other than intellectual, either digital or verbal; things can be compelled to change and changes can be imposed by nonviolent means. Fiscally, mentally...

You can make demands and force things to change; by exposing corruption rather than arson.

The first step is to educate people; change their minds, change their behaviour...

"The first step is to educate people; change their minds, change their behaviour..."Weakening the corporate grid (greed?) which is corporations-owned and corporations-run media can help...

Switch off that darn TV. I gave up on mine almost two decades ago.

Now, start thinking how to defund bad actors. Nothing hurts them more than loss of revenue sources. Microsoft is laying off a lot of people already (whilst hiding its pain, of course!) and the US is estimated to have lost so much in value, never mind its massive national debt, due to bad leadership. See this week's "CBO Projects $16 Trillion GDP Loss Due to Pandemic".

We hear people say we should boycott China, or the US (for Trump's policies mostly, not Bush or the wars -- those did a lot of harm too). More and more people say we should boycott GAFAM (whether they do so themselves is another matter), but maybe that's just too negative-sounding, verging on the tang of racism (is "American" a race?). Maybe instead of using the language of “boycott” we can use more positive language and say things like, "I want to share my money/labour with countries/companies that act ethically; all the rest won’t receive a dime." Nothing negative about it.

"How about making resolutions, or promises? How about refusing to vote for racist parties? Or refusing to befriend those who do?"The current situation makes people desperate. They don't have much left to lose, so radical action is seen as an opportunity with much to potentially gain. COVID isn’t the sole issue but a trigger; Floyd’s murder by cops isn’t the sole issue but the spark for protests. The whole system is unjust, morally bankrupt and usually financially bankrupt as well (too many personal and national debts that cannot be paid off). COVID and Floyd helped highlight the ongoing issues and aroused a sleeping giant.

There are various ways to communicate with states and with corporations. Financially is one, physically is another. It's difficult to punish people for merely communicating with words and boycotts (how are those anti-BDS laws coming along?), whereas it's easy to arrest people -- sometimes spray them with gases and rubber bullets -- for taking actions to the streets.

How about making resolutions, or promises? How about refusing to vote for racist parties? Or refusing to befriend those who do? It's quite likely ethical to altogether reject people whose philosophy rejects people based on their race or colour. Just like we completely ignore Internet trolls. Their isolation may leave them drifting further stray, but many of them are a lost cause to begin with.

"The last thing they want us to realise is that the real looters wear suits, not hoodies."In terms of finance, how about supporting your local stores? They need you more than ever right now. Install GNU/Linux, buy refurbished machines, buy your groceries not in the 'Walmarts' of the world (in the UK they own ASDA and Sainsbury's). Stop buying cars (there's not much to do with them right now; no place to drive to, not enough to justify the maintenance costs, insurance, fuel and so many other things). Stop feeding "Big Business" and think locally, support the local community (except the racists, of course!). A government system that depends on (and is funded/bribed by) "Big Business" will sooner or later collapse if people barter differently, e.g. give your neighbour one thing in return for another. If all of us do this (buying locally, rejecting provocative 'public' broadcast, driving less) the system as we knew it will rot away. It's not sustainable anyway. It probably never was, but it was living on borrowed time and endless loans (from the very people who rob the system and refuse to pay their taxes, legalising their tax crimes by bribing 'our' politicians).

We're living through interesting times. Things will never go back to the "normal" we once knew, but leaving cities ablaze and emptying local stores will hardly get us anywhere. Unless complete destruction is the real goal.

Stay home, stay safe, protest online and switch off that goddamn 'news' that divides us based on race rather than class (as our associate put it yesterday, "larger class question is hidden in distraction about legitimate racial problems"). The last thing they want us to realise is that the real looters wear suits, not hoodies. Their race is irrelevant, but their actions disproportionally harm particular races and sexes. They oppress everyone, but some groups are oppressed even more.

"There’s been class warfare for the last 20 years, and my class has won."

--Warren Buffett



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

How the European Union (EU) Fell Out of Love With Free/Libre Software
Lots of bribery
Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Has Almost Gone Down to Zero, Nearly Totally Extinct in Geminispace, the Few Capsules Still Using It Are Spam/Dead/Stagnant
This represents another decrease for Let's Encrypt; the last decrease was last week
Trying to Silence Techrights Was a Huge Mistake
Peter Thiel attacked a publisher for asserting, correctly, that he was gay. Now everyone knows it.
 
Social Control Media Sites Have Become Bot Farms (Not Limited to LLMs and Automation)
linkedin.com was nothing but trouble and losses for Microsoft
Deep in Debt With the Magnitude of Losses Quickly Growing, Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Now Uses Broadcom for Vapourware, Pretending It'll Do OK Next Year
At some stage it'll collapse
You Can Tell Microsoft is in Trouble When Its Own Fans and Staff Blast it
"Microsoft sinks billions into chasing artificial intelligence fads to hype up its share price."
Multiple Undersea Cable Cuts and We're Still OK
Microsoft customers experience problems
Lawyers Who Think They Are Online Assassins Don't Deserve a Licence to Operate
they've become a laughing stock in their "sector"
Microsoft Windows Fell to 3.9% "Market Share" in Bahamas
Based on statCounter
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 07, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 07, 2025
Gemini Links 07/09/2025: Scanner, Slop, and Chadobear
Links for the day
The UEFI 9/11 is 3 Days Away
Nobody denies that bad things will happen
Google Versus Journalism
Google played a big role in the demise of news sites
Gemini Links 07/09/2025: Advertising, Decentralized Archival, and Outsourcing to Bezos
Links for the day
Not Much Left in News Cycles
To be very clear, this does not describe "Linux" anything; it's true in just about every facet of news, except the paid-for fake "journalism" about "hey hi" (sites getting paid explicitly to maintain or rekindle hype)
Throwing Away "Old" Computers (Mozilla and Other Climate Deniers)
Mozilla is not leftist
The UEFI 9/11 - Part VIII - Denial of Service and Selling Us WSL (Windows) Instead of "Risky" (Prone by Breakage by Microsoft) GNU/Linux
Restricted Boot (so-called 'SecureBoot') does not improve security. It is nothing but trouble. It's meant to trouble non-Windows users. In dual-boot setups, SecureBoot is a recipe for disaster because Microsoft keeps erasing or tampering with the boot sector, to paraphrase an associate
Slop is Extremely Rare in Geminispace, Slop Images Are Unheard Of (Despite Images Being Supported)
As long as Geminispace grows in terms of domains it's safe to predict the protocol will still be used in 2029 and hence Geminispace will turn 10
Links 07/09/2025: Robodebt Class Action, Fines, and Copyright Settlement
Links for the day
Links 07/09/2025: Yle Impersonated in Social Control Media, Boat-Attacking Orcas, Midjourney Sued Again
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Linux Journal, and the Serial Slopper
Google won't tackle the issue because Google participates not only in relaying slop but also in generating lots of it
Links 07/09/2025: Google Fines in EU and "Your Internet Access Is at Risk"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/09/2025: Little Brother and Corporate Theatre
Links for the day
Links 07/09/2025: More Harms of Slop and Anthropic's Nightmare Scenario (Huge Legal Liabilities for Slop)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 06, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 06, 2025
Microsoft Sites Now Talking About September's Mass Layoffs at Microsoft
It's noteworthy that even Microsoft's MSN now covers the latest revelations about mass layoffs
Gemini Links 06/09/2025: SpellBinding Moving and "The Cloud" Ridiculed
Links for the day
Slopwatch: On "the Apology Industry", Chatbots (Punchbag for Customers), and Fake Articles About "Linux"
"news reporting priorities changed"
Links 06/09/2025: "Covid Incidence on the Rise" and Many Attacks on the Press Worldwide
Links for the day
The Register Bill
The Register MS - putting the "MS" in your centre of the universe
Analogies for "Memory Safety" in Rust
Don't worry, it's Rust! It can do anything!
Nobody Denies That SecureBoot Will Cause Problems After September 11
Not even Microsoft
Gemini Links 06/09/2025: Infinite Scrolling and Posting from Emacs
Links for the day
Links 06/09/2025: GitHub Meltdown Over Slop, "U.S. Jury Says Google Should Pay $425 Million in Privacy Lawsuit"
Links for the day
Despite Its Severe Financial Problems Gnome Foundation Inc Paid Rosanna Yuen Over 100,000 Dollars Last Year
maybe relocation should be considered
The "Left" and the Right"
It poisons everything
Mozilla and Rust Are Not Leftists
they're part of the mass consumerism machine
Disposable to Microsoft
There is an extensive set of people who got used by Microsoft, only to be thrown away a month later or a year later or a decade later
The UEFI 9/11 - Part VII - This Coming Week Many PCs Will Refuse to Boot "Linux" (Because of Microsoft's Expired Certificate)
The real solution is, disable "secure boot" or "SecureBoot" while it's still possible. [...] Just like submarine patents, a lot of this problem was "hibernating" for a while
The Thing Nobody in Red Hat Wants to Talk About Openly
There is a real sentiment or worry among Red Hatters, Europeans and Americans in particulars (because of higher salary expectations)
Slopwatch: Small Parade of Fake News About "Linux" and Scams Borrowing the Name (or Word) "Linux"
In practice, LLMs are a risk
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 05, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 05, 2025