Your Privacy
Published: Thu, 06/26/14
Hi ,
Something important and good happened yesterday.
And for some, it's going to scare the crap out of them,
though not for the reasons you might think.
I want to show you the first two paragraphs of a lead
story from today's New York Times...
"In a
sweeping victory for privacy rights in the digital age,
the Supreme
Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that
the police need warrants to
search the cellphones of people
they arrest.
While the decision will offer protection to the 12 million people
While the decision will offer protection to the 12 million people
arrested every year,
many for minor crimes, its impact will most
likely be much broader. The
ruling almost certainly also applies
to searches of
tablet and laptop computers, and its reasoning may
apply to searches of
homes and businesses and of information held
by third parties like
phone companies."
In other words, the U.S. Constitution is alive and well.
Your private information is still private.
Now before anyone starts talking National Security Administration
or all this other stuff that is problematic (and I agree...it is a problem),
I'm going to state the obvious...
The N.S.A. is made up of American citizens. People.
Just like you and me.
And I will bet anything they are good, hard working people
who want to do the right thing.
Of course we also know that any time a group gets into power
and that power goes unchecked, it becomes abusive.
It's the human condition.
I'm typing these words onto my laptop right now and I'm looking
at the Alexa toolbar on the top of the page. It's telling me
Kim Jong Un, the "Dear Leader" of North Korea is swearing
retaliation if Seth Rogan's new movie about his assassination
is released.
Folks...that is what a totalitarian state looks like.
Not a place where I can write a note celebrating the Constitution
and judicial oversight...and be unafraid to sign my name to it.
Not a place where the Constitution has a clause saying it is
the right of the people to alter or abolish this Constitution if
it no longer serves their needs.
We paid for our rights. Retail! We fought two wars...one to
establish the union, one to preserve it.
And at some point, probably in the not too distant future,
there are going to be a lot of pissed off North Koreans who
wake up and realize they've been f**ked over by a family of
thieves for many decades.
It won't be easy to change their government. But it's inevitable.
I wish them well. But this isn't about them. This is about us.
This is about YOU.
You live in a place where you can bitch and moan about your
government, because you built it.
You live in a place where you can complain about your weak ass,
low paying job, because you built it.
You live in a place where you can protest about the systematic
discrimination of blacks and Hispanics - where forty years after
legal segregation ended there's still an income and lifestyle gap -
because you built it.
You live in a place where you can use the Internet, social media,
free education and corporate America's need to find talented
people and train them, regardless of their skin color to your
advantage, because you built it.
Or...you can sit behind your laptop or smartphone and whine
about the NSA, or how someone didn't go far enough to protect
your rights.
Bullshit. Your rights are a muscle. Use it or lose it.
The Supreme Court stepped up. It did its job.
It gave you room to maneuver. Your data is safe from unreasonable
search and seizure.
So is your freedom of assembly.
Every right carries an equal measure of responsibility.
If you want to glaze over looking at the story of a Michigan boy
who was found in his father's basement...because you have nothing
better to do with your time, rock and roll.
But don't come bitching and moaning to me when someone takes
away your freedom.
And definitely don't come to me saying the system isn't fair.
The system gives you the opportunity to numb your brain into jello,
with gossip and shiny objects that have nothing to do with your life.
And it gives you the chance to find a good idea, get educated, build
partnerships.
And work your ass off to live the American Dream.
The Supreme Court has got your back.
You have your privacy. You can privately turn into a soft, slimy toad
who sucks off the energy and initiative of others...and puts yourself
at risk of being controlled.
Or you can live a good, honest hard working life as a part of someone
else's design...and get paid in proportion to your value.
Or you can be a risk taker, a creator, a leader.
Or you can do a little of the second and the third.
Your Move.
Much Love,
Larry