Fighting the petty dictators

Authoritarianism is rampant in our society. Just last week I ran into at least 3 petty dictators. This can be anything from the local "Officer Friendly" telling you to "Move along", to bureaucratic government office secretaries guarding their tin-pot dictatorships with utter contempt for outsiders.

Hierarchy is everything to these petty people. Big Fish, Small Pond. But you must deal with them and it can be exasperating. Think DMV writ large.

I'll be discussing how to subvert the Panopticon society for our ends. Points to ponder in a future post are:
1) The universal surveillance is ineffective for The Man, as no one is watching, and it acts to protect the system.
2a) We value government transparency and personal privacy. The government values government privacy and personal transparency.
2b) We want to keep our secrets, while the government wants to see them, and vice versa.
3) They can monitor the public spaces, even take your data, but we cannot effectively do this to them.

Dictators small and large hate spotlights. Atrocities are carried out in the dark, people are "disappeared." The way to combat petty abuses of petty power are the same as to combat great abuses of great power.

You will never win by complaining. You are doomed to pointlessness. There is nothing you can do to make the departmental secretary to care. She was there before you and she'll be there after you and she'll do nothing to help you. If you annoy her, she will make your life miserable.

Here is how you fight back. Cops will lie and threaten. Flight attendants will make up rules and lie to you. "Because I said so" works for mom, but not for these little nuts. What you need is to spy on yourself. Record everything. Then you have a backup.
Cops hate photographers, unfortunately for them,
photographers have rights. (carry this on your person)

There are lots of reasons to record everything in your life, besides just happening to have some crucial evidence to redeem yourself if you are threatened. In years to come, you may wish to recall conversations you had with others, perhaps after a death your records would console loved ones. Perhaps someone you associate with will become famous. Perhaps you yourself will want to hear what you sounded like as a young man or lady in 30 years time. Think of recordings of your mother and how they are precious to you.

Setting this up to be painless is easier than you might think. I'll have a simple post soon detailing equipment.

ultratoast