Random Thoughts and Concerns about The End of The World as We Know It
Part 5
Visualization is daydreaming with a purpose.
Knowledge
The Ultimate Survival Tool, By Mark Lebetkin, http://www.usatoday.com
Think about this for a moment; you can hand a monkey a flint and steel, but without outside interference, it’s never going to build a campfire. In the same vein, you can have the best map money can buy, but if you don’t know how to read it, you’ll end up wandering aimlessly.
Would you know what to do if you were dropped in the middle of the woods (or desert, or mountains) with only the clothes on your back and -- maybe -- a knife? If you're an urban-dweller like me, you've likely shared this fear-slash-fantasy and wondered how you might make out without society's lifeline. Could you figure out how to build a shelter, find potable water, forage for food, and build a fire in the short time it would take nature to kill you?
Survival is all about making the best of a bad situation, improvising, adapting, and overcoming adversity. When discussing disaster preparation, many people naturally focus on the physical aspects of stockpiling food and water, assembling a medical kit, maintaining weapons, fortifying a home against intruders, and so on.
It’s true that every one of these is a necessary part of an emergency preparedness plan, but there’s one tool that takes precedence over all the above: Knowledge.
Collecting survival gear tends to lull us into a false sense of security. Owning good gear is a must, but knowing how to use it is even more important. Circumstances may dictate whether you live or die, but your mental attitude will determine whether you survive or thrive.
The truth is … it’s not just about you anymore: Whether you realize it or not, someone looks up to you. Someone depends on you and will seek your help in a time of crisis. Someone needs you. It may be your wife, your children, your parents, your friends, or your siblings. You are someone’s super hero. Remember, no one will have more interest in your welfare than you.
Supplies
Supplies, By Neale Wade, https://confessionsofaliberalgunowner.blogspot.com
There’s probably no such thing as having too much stored food if you rotate it and keep it as safe as possible from the enemies of food storage. However, stocking up on food will be viewed as hoarding and susceptible to confiscation. There will be a definite line between the haves and have-nots, even if the haves only have two more cans of soup than everyone else.
Foraging at a home address may require crossing yellow caution tape boundaries erected by local police and fire crews to restrict access. This implies entering unsafe structures and/or increased danger from neighborhood watch and security teams.
As your daily supplies dwindle, you will need to consider alternate sources for water, food, and medical supplies. Local stores will be cleaned out within a few days, and those with supplies will be unwilling to share.
Most prescription medications will last 30 to 90 days at the longest. Initially refilling prescriptions will be tough, if outside assistance is delayed refilling prescriptions will be very difficult, and if outside assistance doesn’t come refilling prescriptions will be nearly impossible.
As a result, individuals using medications to control life threatening illness will be at serious risk. Those with physical problems like heart conditions, diabetes, or epilepsy will be unlikely to survive long. Those with mental problems like anti-social behaviors, tendencies towards violence, or schizophrenia will become an increasing threat to others.
Food Safety
How a Quarter Can Tell You If Your Food Went Bad …, By Sheila Pulanco Russell, Facebook post
Protecting yourself and your loved ones, during any emergency situation, should always be your first priority. But perishable items, like meat and dairy products, could be at risk too. If your home loses power your refrigerator and freezer won’t keep your food safe for long.
If you anticipate evacuating your location, such as for a big storm like a hurricane, freeze refrigerated items that you may not be using immediately; like leftovers, milk, fresh meat and poultry. This will keep them at a safe temperature longer. Purchase or make ice packs and group food together in the freezer to keep it cold longer.
Be sure the freezer thermometer is at or below 0°F and the refrigerator is at or below 40°F. Keep refrigerator/freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain temperature. The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if unopened. A full freezer will keep a safe temperature for about 48 hours if unopened or about 24 hours if half full.
Here's an idea that's helpful when you expect to be away more than a few days. Thanks to this simple trick you’ll know if the power went out while you were gone, and if the food in your fridge is still safe to eat.
Before threatening weather arrives place a small cup full of water in your freezer. Once it’s frozen all the way through put a quarter on top of the ice, and leave it there when you head out the door. When you get home pull the frozen cup out of your fridge and check the position of the quarter. The quarter’s location will tell you if the power went out, and whether your food is safe to eat.
Ideally, the quarter is exactly where you left it: If the quarter is on top of the ice, then your freezer’s contents stayed frozen the entire time. If the quarter has moved to the bottom of the cup, then your food became defrosted while you were gone. If the quarter is in the middle, then your food is likely still OK, since it only partially thawed.
Still, you should throw it out if you have any concerns. If food temperature rises above 41°F for 2 hours or more you should discard it. Remember, When in doubt, throw it out!
Resilience
When … Social Networks Matter More than Bottled Water and Batteries, By Daniel P. Aldrich, http://innerself.com
Standard advice about preparing for disasters focuses on building shelters and stockpiling things like food, water and batteries. But resilience, the ability to recover from natural disasters and man-made events, comes from our connections to others and not from physical infrastructure or disaster kits.
Not long ago, Japan faced a paralyzing triple disaster: A massive earthquake, that triggered a tsunami, that triggered a nuclear meltdown, forcing 470,000 people to evacuate from more than 80 towns, villages, and cities. This series of disasters reinforce past evidence about the importance of social networks and social capital in disaster recovery around the world.
Two years after the disasters some communities seemed trapped in amber, struggling to restore even half of their utility service, operating businesses and clean streets. Other cities had managed to rebound completely, placing evacuees in temporary homes, restoring gas and water lines, and clearing debris.
An investigation into how the hardest-hit communities reacted to these shocks, found that social networks, the horizontal and vertical ties that connect us to others, were the most important defense against disasters. Based on interviews with survivors and a review of the data, communities with more ties, interaction, and shared norms worked effectively to provide help to kin, family and neighbors.
Communities can build cohesion and trust in a variety of ways. First, residents can emulate Mr. Fred Rogers and learn about their own neighbors, who will serve as first responders during any crisis.
Next, whole communities can seek to deepen interactions and trust by organizing sports days, parties, religious festivals, and other community events that build trust and reciprocity. Communities can take the initiative to make connections with decision makers, ensuring their ability to speak with a unified voice about their community’s needs and vision.
Next, whole communities can seek to deepen interactions and trust by organizing sports days, parties, religious festivals, and other community events that build trust and reciprocity. Communities can take the initiative to make connections with decision makers, ensuring their ability to speak with a unified voice about their community’s needs and vision.
City planners and urban visionaries can advocate for living cities and third spaces; that is, places beyond work and home where people can socialize. By designing what advocates call “placemaking public spaces,” such as pedestrian-friendly streets and public markets, they can reshape cities to enhance social interaction.
Finally, communities can increase volunteerism rates by rewarding people who volunteer their time and providing concrete benefits for their service. One way to do this is by developing community currencies; local scrip which is only accepted at local businesses. Another strategy is time banking, in which participants earn credits for their volunteer hours and redeem them later for services from others.
As communities around the world face disasters more and more frequently, it should be noted that while federal and state infrastructure is important for mitigating disaster, local communities should also invest time and effort in building social ties.
Others
Others, By Neale Wade, https://confessionsofaliberalgunowner.blogspot.com
Many people claim they will be the lone wolf, but eventually even the lone wolf needs a pack. Rudyard Kipling emphasized this in his Law of the Jungle: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack”. The same is true with humans; the strength of the community is individuals and the strength of the individual is community.
We need each other and people we can trust, so your long-term survival plan should include community. Team work will allow for the division of tasks and labor into a sustainable life style. Skill sets like protection, security, food preparation, maintenance, clothing, equipment, transportation, communications, foraging, cleaning, etc. will all be invaluable.
Nevertheless, you should be very reluctant to team up with anyone you don’t know. Crowds attract attention and it’s important to avoid attention. The main concern is that others would enter any shared arrangement with their own agenda, and it’s nearly impossible to know what that might be until, possibly, too late.
Skills and supplies are equally important. Stock up on books like the Foxfire series, Mother Earth News, books about survival, pioneer skills, and first aid manuals. Young men will be at a premium for hard physical labor and security. Young men and young women with martial arts and firearm training will be valuable assets.
Crowd Management
Crowd Management, By Neale Wade, https://confessionsofaliberalgunowner.blogspot.com
Recently, while on a trip to the Holy Land, including present day Jordan, Palestine, and Israel, I experienced what crowds may be like during any martial law situation. This trip was arranged as a pilgrimage by another parish, and it included about 72 people, mostly Pilipino. They were all very nice people, although the cultural differences were disappointing and enlightening.
They were planning to dominate the bus seats; by getting on the bus early and holding the best seats for their friends. It was obvious that it wasn't their intention to exclude us, it was just something they do for each other. I made sure that I was on the bus early enough to pick the seats I wanted, sometimes in the front, but I chose seats in different parts of the bus every day.
While standing in line and waiting our turn, they would press up against us, poke their heads around us to "see" whatever site we were visiting, wedge a shoulder in to get a better look, and eventually push past us if there was a couple of inches of space. It wasn't an overt attempt to crowd in front of us, although that is what was happening. I learned to hold my ground, using my body, to prevent or at least limit crowding by the members of my group and other groups.
At almost any photo opportunity, they would walk past anyone trying to take a picture and stand or pose right in front of us. It wasn't that they were attempting to block the picture I had in mind, they take LOTS of pictures! I learned to audibly state that it was my turn to take the picture I wanted by asking others to wait their turn.
After one person would take a picture of a group, someone from the group would swap places with the photographer and they would take another picture; in an endless sequence. It wasn't that they were purposely in our way, they were simply doing something they do all the time. I gave up waiting and would return once they had moved on, or be there first.
This wasn't an unruly crowd of desperate people trying to survive on limited resources, it was a group of very nice people with a different set of cultural guidelines, and it was a valuable learning experience. The kind of people we'll meet during a martial law situation will be much more dangerous. Crowd management will require patience, observation, and an understanding of who we are dealing with, because it will determine our acceptance in the community and our ability to survive.
Riots
Reducing the Risks of Riots, … Keeps You Out of Trouble, By Larry Schwartz, American Survival Guide
Although a few reasons immediately come to mind, there are several reasons that riots, and mob violence occur. The first is straight from the evening news: It stems from the challenges people face in our urban environments that involve social and political issues, such as crime and poverty.
The second is a situation in which you might find yourself one day: The mood of a crowd you’re in has turned ugly, and some people begin to commit criminal or violent actions. The crowd can do millions of dollars in damages, to private individuals and businesses, simply because of “revelers” whose sports team has either won or lost a big game.
The third is a scenario that is unfortunately becoming more and more common: People and groups come together for the specific purpose of protesting and showing their discontent with some social or political reality through violent action, destruction of property and disruption of other people’s normal daily activities. Disorderly and aggressive protests of the current political environment are emblematic of this type of group.
A protest, which sometimes turns into a riot, is a complex, organic, living thing made up of many interacting components.
Protesters: These people come together with the desire to exercise their First Amendment rights in a peaceful manner.
Rioters: These are people who destroy property, attack people and cause problems for, and challenge, authorities. They might have started out as peaceful protesters but turn aggressive when some event occurs that pushes them outside the bounds of civility. Alternatively, they might have come with the specific purpose of causing mayhem, or they use the protest as an excuse to steal and destroy the property of others.
Victims: These are the innocent bystanders, businesses, and property owners who are victimized by the crowds that are blocking lawful access to—or rioters destroying or ransacking—their property or business.
Law enforcement: Law enforcement personnel usually try to maintain order, protect life and property, manage the chaos that is unfolding and limit its spread and escalation.
Media: This group has historically had the responsibility of reporting the news accurately and without bias. They are not supposed to make the news or favor sides or agendas.
Most media outlets tend to filter or slant their coverage to emphasize the outlet’s political and philosophical beliefs. With today’s instant “journalism” fed by Twitter feeds, Instagram and Facebook videos, this reporting can have an immediate effect on the unfolding events by inflaming the crowd. Unfortunately, the very presence of the press can change the behavior of people, and physical attacks on members of the media have increased in recent years.
Avoid it before it happens: The best way to escape a riot or violent protest is to avoid it in the first place. You accomplish this with a little advance research and planning and a healthy dose of situational awareness.
Political and social justice activists make good use of the Internet to let people know when they have something planned, so a Web search may show you what is going on out there. A call to the city hall or mayor’s office for the city you are going to will point you to the agency that manages permits for demonstrations; you can then see if any formal demonstrations are planned. If you are driving, check the major cities along your travel route so you can avoid potential traffic blockades.
If you forget to do this, or something spontaneous pops up, our old friend, “situational awareness,” comes into play. Growing crowds of people in a certain area or intersection; the sounds of police or fire vehicles moving in your direction or near you; and people with signs, masks or other things you associate with protests are all indicators you should be switching from “condition white” to “condition yellow” or “orange.”
If you feel something might happen, take the initiative, even if you feel silly about it, and go around where you think the trouble might take place. If you see traffic slowing down on your daily commute, check your navigation to see what might be causing it and then take a new route to bypass it. Do the same thing when walking or driving in the city.
Escape Routes: But where do you go? Research has shown that the best strategy is to move along connecting streets and safe alleyways that run at right angles to the location or direction of travel for the rioting. Then move at least a few blocks away before continuing your way.
If you are stuck in the middle of a block, look for large businesses like hotels or office buildings. These often have entrances on more than one side of the building, so you can walk through them to get to the next street over.
Avoid the areas where protesters and law enforcement might come into conflict. If you have time before you visit the area, look for possible escape routes from the areas you expect to be in. You should also look for places that could turn into choke points that could slow your movement out of the area or which might be locations where protesters might plan to block traffic.
If you have a smartphone, use the mapping or navigation function to see what the road network looks like where you are. It can show you the roads and alleys, but it can also show you where traffic is slowed down for some reason and where any accidents are. You want to move away from those areas of congestion if you can.
If you find yourself stuck in a moving mass of humanity and you can’t get to a side street, you have another option: Instead of trying to move against the tide of people, slow your pace with smaller steps, and let it pass you by. Once clear of the crowd, move to the side streets you are trying to get to.
Seeking refuge: Ideally, you can move away from the trouble and continue to your destination without further issue. But, life isn’t ideal, and you might need to seek refuge from the growing turmoil around you. Look for sturdy buildings in which you can hide. Preferably, they will have multiple rooms, so you can move away from the street-side rooms and their potential dangers.
Resist the temptation to watch what is going on outside to avoid projectiles coming your way or showing the people outside that there is someone inside. Also, look for another exit in case you must leave in a hurry and the way you came in is blocked. If you can sense the necessity, prepare to defend yourself by making barricades. Find or make something to use as a weapon, such as a club, staff or knife, in case someone gets in and wants to harm you or take what you have.
Be the gray man: The last thing you want to do is stick out or look as if you don’t agree with the protesters or rioters. You want to be a “gray man”, someone who looks like everyone else, blends in, doesn’t pose any threat, and doesn’t draw attention because of look, clothing, or actions.
If you can’t move out of the area, try to blend in until you can find a safe haven. If you can change your clothes to look like those around you, do it. Take off or cover any political slogans, team affiliations or anything else that might say you disagree with what the protest is about.
Stay calm and use your brain before you use your mouth or your brawn; don’t shout, don’t run, don’t interact with others you don’t need to, and don’t make eye contact unless you are spoken to.
Dealing with law enforcement: Interaction with law enforcement is the easiest way to get into trouble if you don’t do it correctly. But doing it correctly isn’t that hard.
If you do interact with law enforcement, whether civil or military, do what you are told, don’t argue, ask appropriate questions politely and respectfully, don’t make any aggressive actions, and move out of the area as quickly as you can without drawing attention to your exit.
In most cases, law enforcement personnel are there to help maintain the peace and to keep you and everyone else safe. However, they also can’t tell a good guy from a bad guy by their appearances, so if you are not cooperative they will treat you as a potential bad guy.
Your best bet is to avoid areas where law enforcement personnel are located. There will likely be problems where protestors and law enforcement interact, and you want to avoid problems as you move away from the area where the protest or riot is happening. That is also an area you will most likely find riot-control techniques, like tear gas, water cannons, and crowd-control maneuvers.
Use of force: Just because you can use force does not mean that you should! Many might think that because they are armed or have some form of weapon, they should use it when confronted with a rioting or violent mob situation.
The best way to handle any fight is to avoid it. Escalating a situation is rarely a good idea. This is especially true when you do not know what your opponent’s capabilities are or how many people you need to defend against.
The riots in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, demonstrated how quickly one or two looters can grow into a few dozen looters. They also showed how demonstrations can quickly go from peaceful to rocks and bottles being thrown to police cars being burned.
Be Social
Build Your Network Now, By Dr. Sterling Silverman, http://www.thenewsurvivalist.com
History has shown that the best survivors do so in small groups. Humans are social beings. Since we began to spread across the Earth our survival has depended on our ability to ban together. Humans have been remarkably successful at forming groups, clans, tribes, and communities because we work together.
During a prolonged emergency, when chaos and lawlessness are the order of the day, your chances for survival may depend on your ability to network with neighbors. No matter how well armed you are, you will have little chance against a gang of marauding vandals and bandits’ intent upon taking your possessions or your life. If you ban together with your neighbors for mutual defense your chances for survival will increase greatly. No matter how well stocked and prepared you are, your stash will do you no good if you are dead.
A hundred years ago, it was common for people to live their entire lives in the same communities in which they had been born, but today we live in a highly mobile society. By next year your present neighbors may have moved across the country. To make matters even worse, thanks to the internet, people spend more time communicating with people on the other side of the planet than with those who live on the same street. We also spend more time in front of the television than at community events. All of this has tended to alienate us from our neighbors. It is not uncommon today for people to live for years next to neighbors whom they have never met.
When times get tough, people are much more likely to help a friend than a stranger. Welcome new neighbors with a dish, a dessert, or a jar of your home canning. Participate in local and community events whenever possible. Turn off the television and spend more time on the front porch. Organize a weekly poker game. Make your neighbors your friends.
It is also easier to barter with people with whom you have already established good rapport. Part of your survival plans should include getting to know as many of your neighbors as possible. If you need an icebreaker, share the bounty from your garden or orchard. Bag up some of your extra produce and give it to your neighbors. If you don’t have produce from your garden, bake a cake or a batch of cookies.
Once you have become well acquainted with your neighbors, there may be one or more whom you will want to discuss preparedness with. They will be less likely to come knocking at your door for provisions if they have put away provisions of their own. But no matter how well you get to know your neighbors, you should keep the full extent of your survival stash a secret from all but your closest family members.
Information like that tends to spread very rapidly during times of extreme shortages, and if you are not careful you could someday have strangers knocking at your door or even breaking into your home. Regardless of your altruistic tendencies, it will be impossible for you to provide for everyone. The supplies that were supposed to last for months could disappear in as little as a few days. Take care of your family first, but cooperate with your friends and neighbors whenever possible.
Neighborhood Watches are a great way to meet your neighbors, to find out who else is awake and prepping, and to find out who you will be able to count on in an emergency, and who you will not be able to count on. Download materials from the internet and you will find that a large part of today's neighborhood watches is disaster preparedness.
Neighborhood watches are a great excuse to get together with your neighbors once a month to talk about preparedness. If there is not already an organized watch in your neighborhood, start one yourself! That way you can have a lot of influence on how yours is run. Organize monthly meetings where you will cover a different preparedness topic each month.
Those who will not do the small things when times are easy, should not be counted on to do the big things when times are hard.
Go to town meetings and local political events. Get involved with local politics. Not only will you get to know more of your neighbors and establish contacts with people who are important for your welfare, but you will also be able to keep an eye on your local politicians and get involved in their decisions before they pass ordinances that threaten you.
Survival Archetypes
Which Archetype are You, By Admin, http://12survivors.com
If you study the past, patterns emerge around groups of people who overcame great adversity. These patterns are caused by the natural occurring diversity among relatively small groups of people coupled with the principles around which the group is organized. Partly physiological and partly psychological, people in groups organize themselves to deal with a host of challenges.
These echoes of our distant past are hardwired into our being as evidenced in our response to universal symbols, primal fears, and natural instincts. These roles are crucial for the survival and success of any group, and they give us insights into the needed diversity among people as well as the functions that must be performed.
These universal insights are organized here as a core group of 12 Survival Archetypes. A thorough understanding of how you fit within the different archetypes will provide a deeper understanding of your role in a group and help you identify survival traits of those you associate with.
Hunter: The backbone of any small group in primitive environments, the hunter's primary responsibility is securing wild game for the group. Hunters need to be agile, strong and brave. A good depth perception and keen sense of sight aided by a fast and steady foot will allow the hunter to return with enough for all. Any group in a hostile world without several members capable of hunting will have little chance of survival.
Hunters are goal oriented and understand that coming home empty handed means the group goes hungry that day. Though necessary for the survival of the group, once the Hunter ages past their "prime" hunting years or becomes disabled or injured, he is then forced to adapt a new set of skills or becomes a burden on the group.
Defender: Taking up arms in defense of the group is the primary purpose of members of this archetype. Members of this Archetype will risk their own life to protect the lives of the young or other members of the group who are not able to defend themselves. Defenders are normally the strongest members and they are practically skilled in the use of various weapons.
Threats from other people are often a more serious risk than risks from nature alone. With the collapse of a larger society or civilization, it will be very likely to encounter violent groups who are bent on destruction and death as their method of survival. A strong defense is not an option - it is a necessity.
Explorer: The Explorer, or scout, is always looking beyond the next hill and is crucial for spotting potential threats. Endurance, keen observational skills and an acute sense of direction are required for members of this Survivor Archetype. The Explorer not only finds a better location and new resources, but will help the group navigate the safest and most efficient path.
Explorers work great alone and must learn to trust their instincts. While crucial for expansion, the Explorer is generally seen as an outsider by the group and is usually not as close to the other members.
Medic: When people get hurt or sick, permanent injury or death is common without a Medic. Having a caring nature, a basic understanding of the human physiology and a working knowledge of first aid techniques are the building blocks of a good Medic. In the outdoors, even the smallest cut or injury can quickly become life threating if not treated quickly and properly.
With such a special skill set, the Medic almost becomes a "protected" member of the group. The value of a good Medic is hard to replicate, thus putting a target on their back to foreign threats and invaders.
Cultivator: Cultivators require a special type of skill set. Providing more reliable food sources through farming, planting and growing are just a few of the skills the Cultivator specializes in. These skills are needed for the survival of any group because many solutions to our most basic needs are the result of domesticating wild animals, training dogs, raising animals and collection of milk, eggs and fur/wool.
The raising of crops and animals is critical for creating surplus food and allows for labor to be allocated to other functions other than just relying on hunting and gathering activities. Cultivators are usually among the groups hardest workers and are highly motivated to finish the task at hand.
Naturalist: The Naturalist understands how nature works and how to harness the power of nature to aid in survival. The Naturalist can determine if wild plants and animals are dangerous. Identifying and tracking animals and man provides an advantage to hunting or defending camp that the Naturalist specializes in. Generally good at identifying potential uses for plants and animals, the Naturalist is vital for foraging for additional editable food sources.
Like the Medic, Naturalists are also able to identify plants that contain healing properties and finding natural useable materials or water trapped in the ground or plants. Ideally, the Naturalist can setup snares and traps to catch fish and game or assist in the protection against unwanted trespassers.
Inventor: The Inventor is tasked with making improvements from available materials. Improving shelters and repairing weapons and tools is essential to the role the Inventor plays in the group. Inventors include engineers, builders, carpenters, metal smith and other similar disciplines. They are critical for taking a group from basic survival to one of organized society, often freeing up human labor to be used in specialized pursuits.
Often among the smartest members of the group, they are also known to be practical problem solvers, good with numbers and work well with their hands. Typically, the inventor is a poor communicator and not normally the strongest of the group, and may require the other archetypes to apply the innovations.
Trader: The ability to trade or barter for resources is critical for small groups to further enhance their condition. Somebody from the group must, at some point, interact with other groups to barter or trade for the mutual benefit of all. Trade or barters done properly can create a sustainable improvement to the quality of life, but done badly could put the group at risk of being resource deficient. A trader by nature is a risk taker and puts his life at risk with every first encounter.
Those who excel as traders are natural communicators gifted with negotiation skills and good with numbers to ensure an acceptable deal is found. Due to the connection with the outside world, information critical to the survival of the group is often passed along with the goods and commodities. Groups of people who have a long standing beneficial trade relationship often can be counted on to give aid in an emergency and have the potential to be powerful allies when presented with a mutual threat.
Teacher: No group could expect to survive long if the collective wisdom and experiences are not passed on to the next generation. The Teacher ensures that each member of the group is properly groomed and prepared for the respective position they will move into once they reach the right age. Although vital to the long-term success of the group or society, the Teacher is often taken advantage of in terms of their value brought to the group.
The grooming and prepping, and general upkeep of camp has more intangible value which may be more difficult for the other members of the group to gauge. While this may be viewed as a negative attribute by some, the Teacher develops special relationships with many of the young members and is seen to hold great value further into the development of the group.
Jester: The Jester includes aspects of the artist, musician, story teller and performer which are necessary to give the group a unique identity and provide escape from the harsh realities of daily life. The Jester also provides a needed counter balance to the order, discipline and violence found in Hunters, Defenders and Leader types by appealing to a higher humanity and creating a higher vision of justice, tolerance and love.
Jesters create or enhance the rare moments of joy after all the work is done. The primary skills vary greatly depending on the type of Jester but often include an outgoing charismatic personality, gifts in art, a caring nature or a good companion. Often a young Jester will mature into an Inventor, Naturalist, Philosopher or Leader with experience.
Leader: A group without leadership is destined to fail. The Leader keeps the group together, dispenses justice, maintains order, brings out the best (or worse) in others and makes difficult choices that others can't or won't do. The primary function is the organization of labor and resources for maximum utility of the group. As groups achieve higher levels of civilization, it is the Leader who sets priorities and establishes a vision for society.
Groups that are best organized for survival seem to select a leader based on having the best leader skill set and vision that fits the needs of the group. It is imperative for the group to select the best leader, but is something we have always struggled with as a species. Though central to a group's survival, leaders take blame for failure and often pay with their life if they are unwilling to step down or unable to maintain power.
Philosopher: The Philosopher appeals to a higher, spiritual, moral and logical purpose, and without this appeal, the group lacks cohesion and an ultimate goal that drives them forward toward civilization. This survival archetype in various cultures or stages of development goes by various other names including priest, wise man, sage and others.
Often this function is the most experienced members of the group or no longer able to perform their duties from their prime. They often are called upon to perform teaching roles or can be chosen to be the leader.
The 12 Survivor Archetypes listed here re-enforce a positive message of survival, resilience, human spirit, and support for groups and individuals. They express the ultimate in unity and selflessness, providing steadfast teamwork in the face of adversity. Humans are resilient by nature and these 12 Survivor Archetypes empower people with both the knowledge and tools they need; not just to survive ... but to thrive.
Radical Leadership
Black Prophetic Fire, By Cornel West in dialog with Christa Buschendorf, Beacon Press, 2014
During an interview about the civil rights movement, Ella Baker said, "The movement made Martin, Martin didn't make the movement". The greatness of Martin Luther King was in the way in which he used his charisma, and used his rhetorical genius, and used his courage and willingness to die alongside everyday people. A critique of Martin Luther King would be that the decision-making process in his organization was to top-down, to male-centered, and to hierarchical. Had his leadership style been different, one can envision a larger and even more effective mass movement.
More recently, the Occupy movement was leaderless and it tried to remain leaderless and group-centered, which has great advantages. For one thing, you can't decapitate a movement easily by killing one of its charismatic leaders; but more than that it gives the group much more power, power that it otherwise delegates to its representative.
When you radically call into question the distinction between mental and manual labor, it frees up the members to engage in forms of activities in the movement that allow for a natural flow, like caring for the dispossessed , cooking for the hungry, and protecting the innocent, because these are all just functions of a freedom fighter, functions of an organic, catalytic leader who is not somehow isolated or elevated and therefore distinct, but sensitive, and connected with those who are being lead.
Democratic existentialism is relevant, in terms of narcissism and charismatic leaders, because anyone who is a long-distance freedom fighter has to have a tremendous sense of self-confidence. The real challenge is how to maintain this sense of self-confidence when you are being targeted by assassination attempts or threats; when you are rebuked, scorned, lied about, or misunderstood.
Leaders need self-confidence to remain strong and keep their community and network going, but how do they hold on to self-confidence without sliding into self-indulgence? The only weapon against narcissism is a belief in self, with an even greater belief in the cause that is severed from an obsession with self as some grand messianic gift to the world.
Leaders need self-confidence to remain strong and keep their community and network going, but how do they hold on to self-confidence without sliding into self-indulgence? The only weapon against narcissism is a belief in self, with an even greater belief in the cause that is severed from an obsession with self as some grand messianic gift to the world.
Of course, this is the struggle of the human soul in each one of us. Thus, a major weapon against narcissism for many is a kind of spirituality, or a spiritual strength that accents gratitude. By that it is meant, recognizing that you are part of a long tradition that has produced you and allowed you to have the self-confidence. Because self-confidence doesn't drop down from the sky, it is cultivated over many years owing to earlier people: Antecedent figures who had the same kind of self-confidence as a kind of democratic piety, understood as the debt(s) you owe to those who came before you, tied to tradition, community, and the legacy of struggle. The indescribable joy of serving others is qualitatively different than the pleasure of leading others.
The depth of a leader’s commitment to the cause is very important, because getting at the complicated core of the mediated essence of leadership has much to do with democratic gratitude, of being in a tradition of struggle, of being an agent of change, and transmitter to the younger generation, which allows you to make a Pascalian leap in belief in the capacities of everyday people.
It's a kind of leap of faith that you are having in the capacity of others to cultivate themselves. You don't need messianic leadership, you don't need a revolutionary party, you don't need professionals and experts, you need someone with experience.
When we are met by individuals and asked, “Who do we work for?”, we need to honestly respond I'm working for the freedom of human beings around the world, I'm working for the cause, I'm working for justice, and this organization is a means towards that end, this organization is a vehicle through which my commitment to the cause for humanity, the cause for social justice, the cause for human dignity, and the cause for change can be accomplished.
Us vs Them
Us vs Them, By Neale Wade, https://confessionsofaliberalgunowner.blogspot.com
Human beings have long conceived of the universe as a hierarchy with God at the top, inert matter at the bottom, and everything else in between. Although a Christian view of the universe recognizes the value of all of God’s creation, it’s difficult not to envision the universe this way. We tend to relegate non-human creatures to a lower position on the scale.
Unfortunately, this tendency also enables one group of humans to treat others as though they were subhuman, and this inevitably influences their agenda for action. Dehumanizing strangers or rival groups allows for a cold-hearted vision of survival and warfare; one without mercy. Even worse, history has proven that this model of thinking paves the way for atrocity.
Thus, humans can be incredibly cruel to each other. This is especially true if you don’t “fit in” with the group. If you possess desired resources, like food or shelter, or you present a threat, like physical size or weapons, or you are different, like showing empathy or reluctance.
This affect will be true regardless of who is in power: Governments and individuals are just as likely as groups to regard others as subhuman, and not worthy of trust or support. What this means is that eventually you are going to find yourself targeted with force, and probably without mercy.
There is good in the world and there is bad in the world, and you must assess every encounter quickly and accurately if you wish to survive.
Tyrant
Tyrant, By Neale Wade, https://confessionsofaliberalgunowner.blogspot.com
The fictional character Negan on a popular TV show is a great example. He is a charismatic, totalitarian ruler with an iron fist in the form of a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat named Lucille. He knows exactly how to make an introduction, establish his rule, and widen his scope of control and dominance. There are no hidden secrets; you follow his rules, you live; you don’t follow his rules, you die. He is a man of his word.
He has a unique personality, he is feared and respected like a king; and his is the first and last word on the activities of his group. He controls his subordinates by power, intimidation, and punishment. He is brutal, foul-mouthed, and possessed of a twisted sense of humor. He also has a penchant for provocation and power games.
Negan is inexplicably violent at times and kills people unaccountably, and yet his behavior in certain situations might not always be construed as evil. While he can be merciless and unrelenting when getting a point across, he is also (at least superficially) understanding of others, willing to spare those he sees as potentially useful, and is occasionally reasonable when people attempt to negotiate with him.
Having insight rarely associated with violent antagonists, Negan appears to both observe and appreciate the concerns and intentions of his challengers. This gives him a significant psychological advantage in most contests of will, as he easily anticipates and preempts his enemy's plans.
In surviving relationships with tyrants, the people who will determine your success or failure are often those in the middle, the uncommitted, who are nonetheless wary of you. They have no stake in your survival, but they do have a stake in the comfort, stability, and security of their own status quo.
They will have seen people come and go, and they will believe that your presence will disrupt their lives and make their futures uncertain. You want to be sure that this general uneasiness doesn’t devolve into a move to eliminate you.
They will have seen people come and go, and they will believe that your presence will disrupt their lives and make their futures uncertain. You want to be sure that this general uneasiness doesn’t devolve into a move to eliminate you.
The Third Wave
The Third Wave, By Neale Wade, http://thewavehome.com
For a minute, charismatic high school teacher Ron Jones had everyone, including himself, convinced that he was a power lord leading what he called The Third Wave. In the end, it was his wife that convinced him that his classroom experiment had gone too far, with salutes, secret informers, banned students, and bodyguards.
The story started in the spring of 1967, when Mr. Jones was a first-year history teacher and basketball coach. It was a time and a place open to the style of teaching that Mr. Jones wanted to pursue after coming out of Stanford University with a master's degree in education and international relations.
Simulation was in vogue for introducing abstract ideas, one of which was fascism, which Jones decided to simulate by turning his world history classroom into a one-day fascist state. It was a morning class of 25 or 26 sophomores, and Jones introduced discipline by having them practice marching into class in an orderly fashion and sitting at their desks with perfect posture and smiles.
Jones figured that was the end of it, but when he came in the second morning, they were all sitting with perfect posture again. They liked this game, and that is where the trouble began: “It became more than a simulation, Mr. Jones said, "The Third Wave was becoming something bigger, and I was a victim of my own excitement. I loved the power of it and the adulation."
On the fourth day, Jones raised the stakes by telling his students that the Third Wave was part of a national movement. They were "the vanguard, the soldiers of the future" and they would hold a rally on day five to meet their national leader in a televised speech.
By then the Third Wave soldiers were in white shirts, and they crammed into a small auditorium. Mr. Jones turned the TV on to meet their new leader but there was nothing but white static. After a few confusing moments, Mr. Jones announced, “This is where we are going. We're no better and no worse than the Germans we've been studying. This is our future unless we understand the need for freedom."
A slide projector came on showing images about the Nazi regime in which Adolf Hitler was indoctrinating his youth. It was a hard lesson and a bit much for high schoolers. Some were crying; Some were bursting out of the room; and as Mr. Jones said, "It had gone way too far. I was lucky I could bring it to an end."
Monsters
The Third Wave, By Neale Wade, http://thewavehome.com
Two years later, his career came to an end. Nobody said it was specifically because of The Third Wave experiment, but nobody said it wasn't, either. In the end, it cost Mr. Jones his job and his future as a high school teacher. He never went back to the 1950s-style flattop Cubberley High School campus on Middlefield Road, in Palo Alto, California, which closed in 1979, and he failed to find another high school that would hire him.
Mr. Jones became a punk rocker and wrote 30 books, but he couldn't face his own story until a random encounter with a former student participant, in Berkeley California. This unnerving encounter left him stunned, and he decided to write about the experiment.
After the book was published, The Third Wave and Mr. Jones became known world-wide, but in the United States and especially in the Bay Area where the experiment took place, there was an attempt to make it disappear, until another of his former students, Philip Neel, a Los Angeles film editor, decided to make a documentary. Neel tracked down a dozen of his Third Wave classmates, plus their parents, the school principal, and Mr. Jones.
"All of a sudden, we realized the story had international implications," says Mr. Jones, who came home from Sundance and approached the Marsh, where he has done three solo shows. He applied for a $40,000 grant to fund a musical based on his experiment. When he didn't get it, he formed his own partnership with the Marsh, Mercy High School for girls in San Francisco and some of his punk friends. Then he reached out to the original Third Wave class, some of whom are still traumatized by it.
"For the first time in 40 years, I'm now engaged in conversation with my old students," he says. "Once I had the underpinning of what really happened to all those kids, I could write the play through their eyes. It's like a secret that we have. We know there are monsters within us."
The performers in "The Wave" were from the Marsh Youth Theater's Teen Troupe. Mr. Jones was at every rehearsal, making sure they did it right, but not too right. He didn’t let them use the original salute, so they made up one of their own. Being at rehearsal reminds him of what he lost besides his teaching career. “What I love more than anything is being around high school kids," he says. "They're so hopeful."
Lessons Learned
The Third Wave, By Neale Wade, http://thewavehome.com
"It's the first time the story was being told with some accuracy about what really happened," says Mr. Jones. "This is kind of like a ghost that keeps reappearing in my life. Occasionally it has reached out and grabbed me by the neck”.
What he got in return, during the many years since the experiment, was a magazine article, that became a TV drama, that was later novelized by another writer, that became an international best-seller. Mr. Neel’s documentary called, "Lesson Plan: The Story of the Third Wave, has become an almost mandatory teaching opportunity world-wide.
Fear-mongering, as employed by leaders, unites people under common dislike or mistrust, deepening the already chiasmic division between different groups in society. Leaders designate groups to point fingers at, and their followers willingly comply; it is too easy and too effortless to project blame and negativity without thought to the consequences.
What you can do is be yourself, be an artist, be a good family member, be a part of democratic society, work to help the person up the street that needs assistance. There are so many things we can do to make our world better, by not being a victim, or by making things worse. Work to build immunity to stirring rhetoric and manipulative regimes, especially in the context of our own surroundings and experiences.
We, as a society, express a lot of idealism: Freedom, equality, diversity of opinion, diversity of culture and gender, but we do a terrible job of practicing it. Individualism is embedded in our constitution, but too often we destroy individualism to enforce conformity.
Assimilation
Assimilation, By Hailey Branson-Potts, http://www.???.com
Recently, our president sparked another new debate over immigration and assimilation that has many reflecting on what it means to blend into American culture. While much has been made about his harsh talk of deporting those here illegally, the president's comments about the need for immigrants to fully embrace American culture has renewed a long-running debate that dates back generations.
In fact, during a campaign-trail speech he called for new immigrants to pass an "ideological certification to make sure that those we are admitting to our country share our values and love our people."
American’s have absorbed and believe the national narrative that we are a nation of immigrants, but it's not so easy once you get into the details of diversity. While immigrants living in America today might disagree with our president’s policies on immigration, they say discussions about assimilation get to the heart of a balancing act all immigrants face: Trying to be American while preserving a sense of where they came from.
People define assimilation in starkly different ways. Some people would say it depends on how you dress and speak and where your educated, and some people will say it depends on if you speak Spanish and have a Mexican passport. Many permanent legal residents, today, believe that even if they became a U.S. citizen they would never be considered "fully American". It's important to recognize that assimilation is not a thing where suddenly it's OK, "Now I'm one of you."
A Pew Research Center survey released in February showed that 92 percent of Americans say it's at least somewhat important for a person to speak English to be considered "truly American," with 70 percent saying it's "very" important. More than 80 percent of the survey's respondents believed that sharing American culture and traditions is at least somewhat important to national identity.
Those who work for the immigration advocacy group say politicians' statements about assimilation just add fuel to an already sensitive subject. Saying, "They need to assimilate," suggests the false notion that they don't want to, or that they're coming here as an invading force". "It's coded in the sense that these are 'other' people, foreigners who want to do harm to our nation, and that's not the case."
This perception has dominated immigrant communities dating back to the 19th century, when the Italians, Irish, Germans, Chinese and other groups faced questions about whether they were true Americans.
Ask any linguistics professor, and you will discover that everyone has an accent regardless of how well they speak English. Whether it's the Cajun or so-called "Minnesota nice" or "Bronx" or other accent not quite on the radar of American pop culture, everyone in the U.S. speaks with an accent.
Not all accents, however, are perceived as equally American. If your way of speaking is associated with a group that's stigmatized, you too will be stigmatized. Unfortunately, there's also going to be racism and prejudice against that way of speaking.
What it means to be an American
How President Trump is changing … what it means to be American, By Abigail Hauslohner, The Washington Post
The foreign-born share of the U.S. population has quadrupled since the establishment of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which ended a quota system based on national origin that favored white European immigrants. In 1960, 9.7 million foreign-born residents were living in the U.S. In 2014, there were 42.2 million, according to census data and the Pew Research Center.
Imagine a group of children gathered on the rug at the front of the classroom, a cluster of eager faces awaiting the teachers next cue. By some stroke of luck, they have made it to America, children with families who have escaped the turmoil and hardship in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan or Mexico.
The teacher asks them, “Who can tell me about your country? Starting with Where I’m from?” As their tiny hands shoot up you'll hear answers like, “Where I’m from, we play soccer”, or “Where I’m from, I like to eat biryani”. This is typical of any “newcomer” class, where children and adults learn English as a second language, but the teacher is offering these students something much more profound: A vision of what it means to be an American.
This task is being complicated by presidential rhetoric which is seeking to reshape American identity through strict limits on immigration. The assertion that some immigrants can’t, or won’t, assimilate into American society has left many immigrants with the sense that it may not be possible for them to belong in a nation where many people view them as violent criminals and fundamentally un-American.
El Cajon, California, is a convenient example. It is home to one of the largest Arabic and Chaldean speaking populations in the country. Since the 1980s, the city has welcomed members of Iraq’s Christian minority, who every Sunday pack the pews of three local churches, where services are conducted entirely in their native language. In recent years, Muslim Iraqis have followed, along with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. On Main Street, so many shops bear Arabic signs that the city is often called “Little Baghdad.”
Among them are children and parents who, six months after arriving, are still grappling with the strangeness of their new place, with doubts about whether they can succeed here. They are alarmed by the high cost of living and the shortage of decent jobs, and they still can’t ask for directions, or read the signs, or communicate in English. Instead they are relying on their children to translate.
The parents want their children to learn English, to get an education, to find jobs, and to build their own families, which would certainly have been denied them in Syria. Yet the parents are watching Arabic-language satellite channels, as the news anchors constantly remind them of the precariousness of their position in a nation where “even American citizens” are stopped at the airports under the presidents first stab at a travel ban on visitors from seven majority-Muslim nations.
What it means to be assimilated into America is to have respect for our country, it’s laws, it’s various cultures, and to deal with it as it is, with reverence. In the United States people have the right to be different, and that also means the growing population of Syrian and Iraqi refugees should be free to pray at a Kurdish Community Islamic Center. Freedom of religion means that every American should be allowed to practice their own religion.
However, other things that they're used to should not be allowed here; and it’s not just things like raising their voice, putting too many kids in a car, or driving without a license. Many of the new arrivals are offended to see U.S. women wearing revealing clothing, or are upset by the presence of dogs in their apartment buildings, animals often considered unclean by practicing Muslims.
We cannot insist that to be “American” one must be, or at least act, white, or support the cry that America wants to "send all the Muslims” home. Nevertheless, while it's important to teach new arrivals reading, writing, speaking and phonics (In English, we don’t pronounce all the letters), it's also important to teach the art of showing up on time for appointments, wearing seat belts, and not calling people fat.
Yes, people may be struggling with English but it's important to remember that they too will turn out okay. Newcomers can maintain traditional values AND love America; it is possible to eat biryani and still belong.
Today, teachers of newcomers must impress upon their students that being an American starts with the kind of diversity found in the classroom, as well as a freedom of thought that is novel to many students from more homogenous nations.
They should take ownership of their lives and be proud of their roots and their heritage. They should not forget where they’re from or why they came to America. To be an American they need to fit in, but not necessarily blend in.
There is nothing wrong with Americans who speak with Iraqi accents, who cook traditional foods, call their village in northern Iraq home, or raising children to speak English while speaking Chaldean at home. The American way is to work diligently, move to more prosperous neighborhoods when possible, pay taxes, and cast ballots for U.S. presidents. That’s what it means to be an American.
Surveillance
Utah Data Center, By Admin, https://nsa.gov1.info
In 2014, the National Security Agency opened a massive data center in Bluffdale, Utah, code-named Bumblehive. This new facility is designed to keep records on everyone and everything. They’re slogan is “If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”.
It’s gigantic surveillance capabilities include collecting and sorting website visits, internet searches, phone calls, skype calls, emails, texts, legal and travel documents, health records, as well as correlating facial recognition images. Moreover, with the coming “cashless” economy every financial transaction, no matter how small, will be subject to government surveillance.
There are an estimated 30 million surveillance cameras in the United States, recording approximately 4 billion hours of video every week. Many street lights across the country are being upgraded to include built-in loudspeakers and hidden microphones. These can be used for gunshot location as well as to record conversations for later government analysis.
Local police departments receive government funding to purchase license-plate readers, allowing the day-to-day movements of innocent citizens to be tracked. Local agencies using “stingray” devices which spoof the function of legitimate cellphone towers to trick nearby cellphones, and other wireless communication devices, into connecting with the spoofed tower. In some areas of the country, law enforcement authorities are pulling data out of cell phones for no reason whatsoever.
Software tools can be used to remotely enable the speakers and cameras on cell phones, computers, and TVs. Facial recognition software can, after a person’s photograph is taken, easily find his or her Facebook or MySpace page. Other software can search virtually the entire internet to find photographs of a specific person.
Web bugs are tracking tags sometimes embedded in Microsoft Word and Excel documents, and most color photocopiers today use tiny yellow dots, almost invisible to the eye, to secretly record the printer’s serial number and the date and time on every printed page; allowing the documents to be traced back to the individuals who created them.
Most people are aware that several major telecommunications carriers have confirmed that they are cooperating in the tracking of their customers by law enforcement agencies. Social media is not exempted from government snooping either. The Department of Homeland Security monitors dozens of popular websites (like Facebook, Twitter, and the Drudge Report) to collect and compile “personally identifiable information” about visitors to the sites.
The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that there will be roughly 30,000 unmanned drones in the skies over America by the year 2020. There are at least 63 command centers for such UAVs located across the country. Many of these drones are operated by the US military, federal government agencies, and state and local police departments.
Other examples of invasive technology include electronic data recorders in late model cars to report dates, times, and locations; smart meters at homes which record and report energy use; and portable facial-analysis lie detectors. Cell phone apps that track the location of family members and owners.
In-home AI Assistants and Smart TVs capable of responding to spoken commands and potentially monitoring conversations, and computer and phone cameras and microphones remotely activated by eavesdropping interlopers.
The implications of such technology are staggering. All our electronic devices can be wonderful servants, but they are also dangerous tools in the hands of those who would enslave us. Prudence requires that we exercise great caution regarding the countless electronic devices that surround us.
Computers are Watching
Microsoft's … Search Engine Is Incredible and Horrifying, By Eric Limer, http://www.popularmechanics.com
Imagine if you lost your keys and instead of fishing around in the couch cushions, you could just pull out your phone and search for them. Just a quick, textual query and a quick textual response, "They're on your desk ... doofus". This is not only possible; it's possible now, and it's almost as intriguing as it is terrifying.
Recently, at a conference for developers, Microsoft showed off their new search engine. By melding things that have been around for a few years, like machine-learning powered image recognition, consumer-grade cameras, and the computing horsepower in the cloud, Microsoft is able to index people and things in a room in real time.
Let that sink for a minute. Make that a very long minute. What it means, practically, is that if you can point a camera at it, you can search it. The limits to what kind of rules you can make are effectively arbitrary.
Once you can identify the images of your employee (Bob) and his tools (jackhammer) you can start applying a framework of rules and triggers on top of the real world. Example: Only certified employees (Bob) can carry certain tools (jackhammers). Informational: A certified employee (Bob) is carrying a tool (jackhammer).
It's extremely impressive, and the pitch for using this technology on factory floors and in hospitals makes it fit into that "common good" scenario that we've already talked about. It belies another truth: that it's also extremely terrifying. Caution: This employee (Bob) is not using his tool (jackhammer) in an approved manner. Alert: An employee (Bob) is storing his tool (jackhammer) in an unsafe manner.
The cliché here is to acknowledge notions of Skynet, but the real dangers are far worse than some kill-all-humans fantasy. Update: An automated termination notice has been delivered to employee (Bob).
The privacy implications, which Microsoft hasn't mentioned to date, are chilling even in a hospital ward, or on a factory floor, or other workplace. Yes, systems like this could ensure no patient collapses on a floor out of sight or that new hires aren't juggling chainsaws for fun. But it also would make it trivial to pull up statistics on how any employee spends his or her day: Down to the second.
Even if it is ostensibly about safety or efficiency, this sort of data can betray all sorts of private information like health conditions or employee’s interpersonal relationships, all with incredible precision and at a push of a button. And if the system's not secure from outside snooping, the concerns explode exponentially.
And of course, the creepiness only increases if you imagine the spread of this technology to places like the home, though users would theoretically have to opt in … for now. That is, unless a hacker or company decides to surreptitiously apply this sort of computer vision to the cameras already in your home or just steal the footage and apply the machine eyes after the fact.
Perhaps most concerning though, is the idea of this tech in the public sphere, where relative privacy is a byproduct of obscurity. You can be effectively "alone" in a mall or coffee shop only because it is difficult to look for you. If applied to security systems and other live video feeds, this sort of technology gives those with the power to search through it a sort of instant, god-like omnipotence.
This has chilling implications whether that power is in the hands of a disgruntled IT guy or the FBI; or that agency mentioned above. All that's to say nothing of the implications for ad-targeting, and all the companies that would have a vested interest on building a dossier about you specifically; not because you are particularly interesting but just because you buy things ... sometimes.
Artists and technologists have been grappling with this coming privacy nightmare for years with anti-surveillance gear that runs the gamut from makeup to glasses to gadgets. Up till now it's been easy to dismiss these measures as art or dystopian fantasy, but it's getting more difficult not to take them seriously.
There's no doubt, of course, that dynamic image recognition would have huge benefits and could save countless lives, but even with strict rules and regulations these smart cameras could cross all kinds of privacy lines before we even know it.
The question isn’t IF, of course, it’s WHEN. This kind of tech is moving fast and smart cameras are undoubtedly coming to a public place near you. Skynet may be the least of our worries today, but that too is moving fast.
Closing the Internet
How Governments Use Terror to Expand Their Own Authority, By Anthony L Fisher, The Daily Beast
Terrorists will always attempt to exploit the civil liberties of a free society. Surrendering those liberties in exchange for empty promises of security is a sucker’s bet.
After three ISIS-inspired extremists wreaked havoc on London Bridge days ahead of the election there, the U.K. Prime Minister said her government must "work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning". This is a classic example of a "Do Something! Anything!" call to action from a beleaguered politician.
Even more worrisome is that it isn't merely a spur-of-the-moment overreaction to an act of terrorism.
A recent conservative Tory party manifesto explicitly disagrees with the idea that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet. It also declares, "We do not believe that there should be a safe space for terrorists to be able to communicate online and will work to prevent them from having this capability.”
A recent conservative Tory party manifesto explicitly disagrees with the idea that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet. It also declares, "We do not believe that there should be a safe space for terrorists to be able to communicate online and will work to prevent them from having this capability.”
Naturally, it's not just terrorism the our government wants to starve of oxygen by government fiat. Conservatives are also demanding that tech companies "not direct users, even unintentionally, to hate speech, pornography, or other sources of harm.”
At the very least, this conservative manifesto deserves credit for its candor, as most of the time it's left to free-speech advocates to make the slippery-slope analogy. Here, the slide from defending the homeland from jihadist terrorism by demanding backdoor government access to encrypted technologies to legislatively commanding Google to prevent its users from accessing unapproved websites is laid bare in just a mere handful of sentences.
Nominally deep thinkers and political leaders all over the world, regardless of ideology, also believe that the threat of terrorists and their ability to activate cells using encrypted messages or recruit through online propaganda videos represents such a profound threat that both the post-Enlightenment value of free expression (at least in countries where that's ever been valued) and the ever-evolving nature of a free and open internet must be curbed.
The last American presidential election might have been the most divisive in memory, but with regards to waving a dismissive hand at the First Amendment there was barely any daylight between the candidates. One candidate called for "depriving jihadists of virtual territory," begrudgingly conceding, "You’re going to hear all of the usual complaints, you know, freedom of speech, et cetera", implicitly painting such complaints as unreasonable. The other candidate called for "closing up" parts of the internet to fight ISIS lamenting, "Somebody will say, Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech. These are foolish people."
All this trans-partisan, multi-national support for censorship is presented as thoughtful and necessary governance, when it is in fact short-sighted, ill-considered, and designed to convince terror-fatigued citizens that their "leaders" have their best interests at heart.
Supporters of censorship and punitive regulations like to paint their opponents as naïve, but "international agreements to regulate cyberspace" cannot "effectively tamp out the bad guys ability to express their horrid worldviews” without also running roughshod over the civil liberties of the general citizenry. Thinking it is possible is the pinnacle of fanciful thinking.
The country of Jordan, often praised as an example of a "progressive" Middle Eastern dictatorship, has an "anti-terror" law that is ambiguously written, and its vague definition of terrorism leaves journalists, or even everyday citizens using technology, vulnerable to arrest and prosecution before a military court. Germany has a proposed law under consideration which would fine social-media company’s tens of millions of euros if they do not adequately remove "hate speech" and "fake news" in a timely fashion.
A German comedian was prosecuted for reciting a poem critical of the Turkish President under a law forbidding German citizens from insulting heads of state. His criminal charges were dropped, but he is still legally forbidden from reading the poem in public again. That's what a government in a "free country" can do to a citizen whose controversial speech becomes inconvenient to its negotiations with an autocrat.
With governments free to interpret such nebulous terms as it sees fit, what could possibly go wrong? Hypothetically, international agreements to regulate cyberspace might allow hate speech to be censored online. Would French cartoonists be subject to Saudi blasphemy laws? Just how committed to stamping out terrorism are our governments?
The necessity of such international regulation is also based on the dubious premise that nothing is being done to push back against online jihadism. In fact, tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter have already taken numerous measures to stamp out "terror-related" content using both automated and user-driven systems to flag and remove such material, primarily because providing a platform for such material is bad for their businesses. No sweeping top-down government edicts are necessary.
The sad fact is that terrorists will always attempt to exploit the civil liberties of a free society. But resisting overwrought pleas from governments to increase their own authority to the point that such liberties are but a quaint memory is not weakness, it is the necessary resolve to remain free in the face of barbarians.
ISIS and their minions are murderous cowards and thugs following a nihilistic death cult, but they're not an existential threat unless we choose to make them so. No government has ever proven itself so enlightened that it won't abuse emergency measures introduced in times of war. The “free world" faced down the literal existential threat of the Axis Powers without permanently sacrificing free expression on the altar of security.
If you don't want terrorism to destroy our way of life, don't believe the politicians who insist that once you forfeit your freedoms you'll be safe, because you won't ever be truly immune from violence and you won't ever get those freedoms back.
Tech tips
Worried about the NSA Under Trump, Here’s How to Protect…, By Alex Hern, https://www.theguardian.com
Cardinal Richelieu, a French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman supposedly wrote, “If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him”. Actually, he didn’t write that, but he is still credited with the saying.
When Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance regime in 2013, he warned that a new American president could rapidly expand its scope overnight with just a simple change of government policy.
In January 2017, the most technologically advanced surveillance infrastructure in the world will start reporting directly to our new President. He has gone on record asking for backdoors to encryption and devices, saying he supports surveillance, and is against Net Neutrality. Policies pursuant to these goals will put you and your data at risk.
Tech is as much a liability as it is an opportunity. The next few years will be scary for many reasons, and to some more than others, and part of that will be the continued and likely expanded exploitation of the technologies and services we’ve come to rely on. Protecting yourself from surveillance by the NSA isn’t easy, but information security is possible.
The only way to protect our freedom is to build and use technologies, such as end-to-end encryption, which cannot be abused for mass surveillance. Governments can change, but the laws of mathematics upon which encryption is based, are much harder to change.
Communities likely to be targeted may want to take a few steps to help ensure their online safety. The following are privacy tips anyone can use, but they are particularly relevant for anyone who, plans to participate in protests or grassroots organizing, or for undocumented immigrants and anyone else who would like to decrease their online presence.
Even if you don’t worry about being specifically targeted, securing your accounts online is just good sense. The actions you take to fight repressive regimes may only end up protecting your bank account, but that’s still a positive.
First: Avoid email and SMS, both of which are sent unencrypted and are easy to intercept. Avoid unencrypted apps such as WeChat and Google Hangouts. Avoid apps with an “optional” encrypted mode like Google Allo and Facebook Messenger (it’s too easy to accidentally forget to turn on the encrypted mode). Avoid Allo and Telegram which have been criticized for their encryption and privacy choices.
Better yet, learn when to use these and when to use something more secure.
Use Encrypted email: Consider ProtonMail which is a solid email service, if you’re looking to get away from Gmail or just have a second email for sensitive topics.
One of the problems with having a technological infrastructure that can be abused for mass surveillance purposes, is that governments can and do change, quite regularly in fact. This demonstrates that privacy isn’t just a liberal or conservative issue, it is something that we all need to champion, regardless of our political leanings. ProtonMail is committed to building a safe-haven for all people in the world, regardless of nationality, political views, or religious beliefs.
Ditch SMS and use end-to-end encryption: Ordinary phone calls and text messages are incredibly easy to collect, and are often also exposed as part of other investigations. You can easily be included when the police run a dragnet in areas densely populated by immigrants, watching for keywords pertaining to under the table employment, family across the border, remittances, and so on.
They can’t do that if you’re using “end-to-end encryption,” preventing electronic snooping anywhere along the line including on the service’s own servers and while the data is in transit between networks and devices. This type of encryption is the bane of every authority because not only can they not see what is being sent, neither can the company that runs it, so the information can’t be subpoenaed.
Use Signal: Encrypted messaging has gotten a lot easier over the past few years, particularly with the rise of encrypted texting apps such as Signal, developed by Open Whisper Systems. This app lets users add each other using their phone numbers, before providing a scannable QR code for double checking that no third-party has intercepted the initial communication. Scan each other’s QR codes, and if they both flash green you’re good to go. From then on you can use Signal like a conventional messaging app, even installing a desktop extension so you can chat on the go.
It may be a pain, but getting your family and friends switched over to one of these apps could prevent a lot of trouble down the line. If switching to another app is too much hassle there are good alternatives in the commercial sphere. Both Apple’s iMessage and Facebook’s WhatsApp offer end-to-end encryption, with the latter even using the same open standard developed by Signal.
Use Tor: Tor is a technology most associated with the Dark Web, the shady part of the internet that gets headlines for being full of illegal material. Ironically, the technology was created by the US state department to help activists in repressive nations communicate freely online, and it’s effective for keeping all your browsing out of the reach of prying eyes.
Ideally, the system is secure from eavesdropping. In practice, there are difficulties to using Tor. For one, the nature of the network will make browsing more difficult: The limited capacity imposes bandwidth constraints slowing internet speeds, while many sites, uneasy about having users who they can’t identify through IP addresses, will block Tor entirely.
Use full disk encryption: This is easier than ever these days. On a Mac, you will likely have full disk encryption on by default if you are running a recent version of MacOS. Check by going to the Security and Privacy tab of system preferences and clicking on FileVault. If it’s turned on, you’re good to go.
On Windows 10, it’s only slightly harder. Microsoft’s BitLocker isn’t on by default but can be turned on by searching for “encryption” from the start menu, clicking “Change device encryption settings”, then “manage BitLocker”, and turning it on. Similar settings are available in older versions of Windows going back to Vista.
As always, there is a trade-off: if you forget your passwords when you have full disk encryption turned on, you will not be able to recover your data, ever. Also, full disk encryption will only protect you if your computer is turned off, or if you are logged out. If you’re in the habit of simply letting it sleep while you’re not using it, then your data isn’t protected.
Use Secure Passwords: A password manager such as 1Password, Dashlane, or LastPass, lets you generate and store random, un-guessable passwords, and you should use a unique one for every online account you have. You should be doing this as a matter of course: even if you only re-use passwords on “unimportant” websites, access can be used to gain greater access.
Password services like Troy Hunt’s Have I Been Pwned are good too. Hunt monitors for large scale password dumps, and will email you if any of your accounts have been posted in the internet in security breaches like Adobe’s hack of 2.9m accounts in 2013.
Use Two-Factor Authentication: Two-factor authentication protects you even if you lose your passwords. Companies including Facebook, Twitter, Google and Apple all offer different forms of two-factor authentication, requiring you to either enter a code displayed on another device, or approve the sign-in, when logging in.
Keep your phone and PC software up to date: The NSA is always on the hunt for new, undiscovered, ways to hack into targets, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t perfectly happy to use tried-and-tested methods to access information too. Always keep your operating system software up to date, installing security updates as soon as they’re available, to avoid being targeted through a security weakness which has already been fixed.
While Apple has a long track record of shipping security updates for devices long after release, the Android landscape is less reliable. Google has promised to update its Pixel phones, while other manufacturers keep their top-tier handsets, like the Galaxy line, up to date. But cheaper models are often left with the version of Android they ship with forever, meaning they rapidly become insecure.
This is also a reason to reconsider your model of phone. Slightly older iPhones will still get the critical updates (mainly iOS 8) that added broader encryption, as will Nexus phones and other flagship devices. Budget (but still modern) phones like the Moto E and G are also great options for those on a budget. You should consider updating at the earliest opportunity if you’re on an OS more than a year or two old.
Use your AC adapter: Juice jacking is a term used to describe a cyber-attack wherein malware is installed on to, or data copied from, a smart phone, tablet, or other computer device. This happens surreptitiously, of course, using a charging port that doubles as a data connection (typically over USB).
Juice jacking is not possible if the device is charged via the AC adapter shipped with the device, a battery backup device, or by utilizing a USB charge only cable. A charge only cable is non-standard, since it does not adhere to industry standards. Because data connectors / cables also play a role in negotiating the power requirements for the device, these charge-only cables come with the disadvantage of very slow charge speeds.
Go private on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google: Part of the fun of social networks is the idea that you’re sharing with the world. But law enforcement also uses them as investigative tools, establishing whereabouts, work history, and anything else that your posts imply. Like anything you say to the police, this can and will be used against you, and if you have reason to think you may be targeted by them, you should make it difficult to get at. Making your account private is an easy way to do that, even if it’ll be harder to garner followers.
Be sure to check your preferences and privacy settings in every app and service and opt out of things like default public check-ins or anything with “personalized,” “tailored,” or “curated” in it: It means they’re reading your data.
On Google, you should turn off (“pause”) your location history and opt out of other tracking measures in the search and ads areas. On your phone, you can turn off location services or restrict them per app. Using an alternative to Google, like DuckDuckGo, helps keep your browsing habits private.
Install HTTPS everywhere: The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a plug-in for Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that forces them to make a secure connection even when it isn’t the default for the website or service you’re connecting to. You’ll also be warned when the connection isn’t secure (browsers also tell you this, but not very loudly).
Consider a VPN: Virtual Private Networks obscure your internet traffic from your ISP and others by routing it through other servers first. If all your connections are to your VPN (which then passes it on to wherever it was headed), and your VPN doesn’t keep any records of those connections, there are far fewer ways for your browsing to be tracked.
Good VPNs cost money. We don’t recommend any particular VPN service, but it should be a VPN that plainly states it doesn’t log your traffic. Examples include ExpressVPN, Anonymizer, and Private Internet Access. There are dozens to choose from, but you want to be careful about the jurisdiction where the VPN is based, the extent of its record keeping, and so on.
Get a backup/burner phone: If you attend lots of protests or demonstrations, or often choose to film police encounters, you might want to keep a burner phone around in case yours gets smashed or confiscated. You can get a cheap Android phone for $100 or less, and if you aren’t relying on SMS and phone calls, you can do pretty much everything you need over wi-fi until you get a replacement.
Set up Firechat or another offline communication tool: Another way governments have quashed dissent is by suppressing mobile communication altogether. It can’t hurt to have an app like Firechat installed on your phone, which passes messages directly between devices without the need for a network. This is also useful in case of power outages and other disasters so it’s a good emergency measure to take regardless.
Avoid the “Internet of Things”: Even if the various smart appliances worked well, we’d still have issues with their security and the way data is handled. You’re not missing out on much, so just skip the wi-fi front door lock and Amazon Echo for now.
Use end-to-end encryption on cloud storage too: This is harder to do for many people, since services like OneDrive and Dropbox have become practically ubiquitous. But if you’re worried about privacy, there are options that provide similar services but with a “zero knowledge” guarantee (basically that the company that runs them never knows a thing about what you use their service for). SpiderOak One is like a super-private Dropbox.
Install an alternative OS: If you’re worried about snooping, consider using an alternative to the standard operating systems that’s designed with privacy and security in mind. This isn’t an easy option but it might be good to explore if you have an old laptop or phone lying around.
Copperhead is worth trying if you’re used to Android, although it won’t have all the conveniences of the usual Google-powered version. Tails is what Edward Snowden has recommended for desktop and laptop work that needs to stay private. It’s basically a simple, security-focused OS that deletes itself when you’re done.
Use a get-home-safe app: The government’s naked xenophobia, tacit support of vigilantism, and lack of concern over police militarization and brutality suggest it may soon become far less safe for people of color, Muslims and Sikhs, LGBT individuals and other targeted groups to walk home alone. Tech can’t prevent bigotry and bashing, but it can at the very least help create a safety net.
Apps like Kitestring and Companion let you set emergency contacts, and if you don’t check in at home within 15 minutes, or if you shake the phone hard for 5 seconds, it will send them your location and a message that you need help. (They use SMS, but we’ll make an exception in this case.)
It’s scary and unfair that this should even have to be recommended, but it’s an opportunity to protect yourself using technology you already have. Check with some friends and see what app looks best.
Use Deseat.me: If you feel that the internet can be a beautiful and horrible place at the same time, you’re not alone. It isn’t weird to sometimes feel like you want to leave it altogether, but until now there was no easy way out.
Swedish developers have created a service called Deseat.me which offers a way to wipe your entire existence off the internet in a few clicks. After logging into the website with a Google account it scans for apps and services you’ve created an account for, and creates a list of them with easy delete links.
Every account it finds gets paired with an easy delete link pointing to the unsubscribe page for that service. With a few clicks you’re freed from the site, and depending on how long you need to work through the entire list, you can be account-less within the hour.
If you’re getting tired of social media and internet-induced stress in general, it’s the quickest way to get back to a state of tranquility. To be honest, it’s probably not a bad idea.
Finally: Think for yourself! Does the app you’re about to install need to know your location? Does it need access to your contacts? Could information you share publicly be used against you? What about information you share privately, but through insecure mediums? Do you need to chat with colleagues using your work’s communication tools or over the phone, rather than face-to-face? Is your archive of thousands of tweets, or millions of Facebook interactions, enough for a determined attacker to damage you?
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