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by aeternum1 days ago |
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upvoteby koliber1 days ago|
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Tyranny of majority is a thing. It's something mature democracies are aware of and have the ability to defend against.

We're in an interesting spot here and the tension is tangible.

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upvoteby account421 days ago|
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Does the majority of the population even have a self-formed opinion on this or are they just parroting what the media tells them (which in many "democratic" countries is directly or indirectly controlled by the government, i.e. propaganda).
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upvoteby jasomill1 days ago|
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American People Shrug, Line Up For Fingerprinting

WASHINGTON, DC—Assuming that there must be a good reason for the order, U.S. citizens lined up at elementary schools and community centers across the nation Monday for government-mandated fingerprinting. “I’m not exactly sure what this is all about,” said Ft. Smith, AR, resident Meredith Lovell while waiting in line. “But given all the crazy stuff that’s going on these days, I’m sure the government has a very good reason.” Said Amos Hawkins, a Rockford, IL, delivery driver: “I guess this is another thing they have to do to ensure our freedom.”

(source: The Onion, October 9, 2002[1])

[1] https://theonion.com/american-people-shrug-line-up-for-finge...

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upvoteby phatfish1 days ago|
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What does democracy have to do with electronic encryption? Democracy existed before computers.

There are legitimate reasons for governments to intercept information, with the correct oversight -- enforced legally in an "checks and balances" manner. The fact that there is a breakdown of trust between government and people won't be solved with more encryption.

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upvoteby aeternum1 days ago|
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A core tenet of Truecrypt + Veracrypt (developer guarantee) has always been no backdoors, even if requested by government.

If in a democratic society, the majority agrees that government should have backdoors (with the correct oversight). Then it follows that Veracrypt should be illegal as its use is not in alignment with the will of the majority.

I personally don't agree with the majority here but can you fault the logic?

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upvoteby nostrademons1 days ago|
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Most forms of democracy do not have a direct correspondence between "the will of the people" and the actual policies enacted. As another poster mentioned, tyranny of the majority is a thing, and robust democracies have evolved institutions to deal with it. Otherwise there's nothing stopping the majority from periodically voting the minority off the island, Survivor style, until only a single dictator remains.

In the U.S. in particular, there's strong respect for individual rights enshrined in the Constitution, and a key role of the judicial branch is ensuring that those rights are respected regardless of what the majority thinks. The majority cannot enslave the minority, for example, regardless of what the legislature votes. Nor can it deprive it of speech or free assembly, or guns, or a right to trial by jury.

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upvoteby aeternum1 days ago|
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Ah so the iron law of oligarchy becomes our salvation

if only it were so simple

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upvoteby MegagramEnjoyer1 days ago|
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That's why specialized agencies exist within the government body: FCC, FDA, etc.

aka leave it to the experts because the majority isn't qualified to make such decisions.

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upvoteby bigfishrunning1 days ago|
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> vast majority 63% also favor government "backdoor" access for national security reasons.

Don't do math that way! That math is illegal! Good boys and girls don't keep secrets!

These people sound ridiculous

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upvoteby joepie91_18 hours ago|
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I'd be very wary about such specific surveys, because they're often very much not conducted in a scientifically responsible manner, and based on actual studies across the spectrum of political issues there's basically no alignment between public opinion/preferences and actual policymaking in the US.

Could this be the one exceptional case where people agree with the direction of policymaking? Sure. Is that likely? No, not really.

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