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Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

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Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#521

Post by scottyah »

mrtesthah wrote: post #510
scottyah wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the knee-jerk reactions to "look at the other side!" that makes me think you're in a bubble. Also your references to certain small groups on the right-side spectrum as the whole while claiming (rightly) that other small groups on the left-side don't represent the mainstream. I was just trying to give you a few examples as a starting point for research since you seem to be completely oblivious to them, I am not h…

Guy, you're talking about groups that comprise social discourse whereas I'm talking only and specifically about the concrete policies and practices enacted by the Trump regime. The counter-examples you provided are not parallel mappings.

That's cool, keep talking about it I guess. Why you're expecting me to provide "parallel mappings" is totally beyond me. You're in a bubble because although you seem great at researching one side, you seemingly cannot apply those same skills for the other. You just want a dopamine win from discarding whatever I say based upon whatever moral framework you've set up in your head that's gotten you to this point.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#522

Post by fuzzfactor »

throwaway85825 wrote: post #517
fuzzfactor wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good observation. Think about how it was in a state like North Carolina in the 1850's where they were building textile mills which could add great value to the cotton before it was shipped. This was enough of a threat to Northern manufacturing without their factories having to compete with unpaid labor. They were not happy campers, they had always been making way more money per ton of cotton in the well-established N…

I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

It is convoluted but very few people recognize this as well as you do, regardless of how obvious it is:

>war simply made everyone a slave

The same thing in my message, from almost the reverse point of view, how the way some factory-working slaves were turned into employees by the same war in the 19th century.

What's the difference anyway?

The difference between wage slave and fully-owned has been based mainly on freedom-of-movement and payment for labor, which have always been big enough to destroy a republic.

But not big enough for any difference in tasks or financial considerations to be the major thing for something like a government or corporation.

In some ways not much more modern than the Romans.

For the elites, they have always benefited most from a majority of subjects whose wages, if wages were involved, were not that much more significant than zero when it comes to the bottom line.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#523

Post by burnt-resistor »

someguyornotidk wrote: post #454
burnt-resistor wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARGUS-IS https://www.extremetech.com/defense/146909-darpa-shows-off-1... Tech deployed to distant lands will eventually be turned on the empire's own.

This, honestly. I used to get so angry when the US subjected foreigners to treatment that no human with morals would consider, but then I noticed that, without fail, almost every thing the US did to foreigners gets done to US citizens eventually, either by foreign governments or by the US government itself. The only thing that I haven't seen yet are drone killings on US soil, but I suspect that too is only a matter o…

This. The core of being a decent person is the Golden Rule applying to all people. People who lack empathy are the real monsters.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#524

Post by mulmen »

mothballed wrote: post #404
mulmen wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we didn’t want them then why did we capture them?

A lot of them were captured for things like simply having an F91W watch and also being proximal or familial to a terrorist. They were initially wanted but then once 'cleared' the problem became once accused as a terrorist no country on earth wanted to take them even if they were cleared as likely innocent. Obviously it was also politically infeasible to admit them into the general US.

What a nightmare.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#525

Post by doomslayer999 »

toephu2 wrote: post #433
doomslayer999 wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because we in america tend to value individual liberties in a way that others don't. And yes of course LPR is mass surveillance. Cars should not even have to be registered.

They shouldn't even have license plates?? That leads to 0 accountibility. Would you like the government driving around in government vehicles doing hit and runs and having zero accountability? Or criminals for that matter?

We don't need it. You could say the same about any criminal act, doesn't mean we need to tag everyone with a face id.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#526

Post by [deleted] »

mrtesthah wrote: post #495
toomanyrichies wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were literally taking tourist photos in front of the "Alligator Alcatraz" sign. [1][2][3] They knew what they were voting for. The cruelty (and the authoritarianism) is the point. 1. https://theday.com/photo-single/1006536/?mode=team 2. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-pi... 3. https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2025-12-22/attorneys-urge-ju...

The best way defeat MAGA is to fracture their coalition, which requires understanding its various constituencies. The “MAGA Hardliners” at the forefront of this fascist movement are only 29% of his support: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/trump-roles-sup... Currently, his approval rating is hovering in the mid to high 30s, which tracks. We should spend our energy on the people who can be convinced; don’t…

[deleted]

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#527

Post by Road-Essential9 »

mrtesthah wrote: post #495
toomanyrichies wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were literally taking tourist photos in front of the "Alligator Alcatraz" sign. [1][2][3] They knew what they were voting for. The cruelty (and the authoritarianism) is the point. 1. https://theday.com/photo-single/1006536/?mode=team 2. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-pi... 3. https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2025-12-22/attorneys-urge-ju...

The best way defeat MAGA is to fracture their coalition, which requires understanding its various constituencies. The “MAGA Hardliners” at the forefront of this fascist movement are only 29% of his support: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/trump-roles-sup... Currently, his approval rating is hovering in the mid to high 30s, which tracks. We should spend our energy on the people who can be convinced; don’t…

> We should spend our energy on the people who can be convinced

They've had a decade and a half to be convinced! They weren't convinced by Trump's easily-disprovable birther nonsense in 2011, his "Mexico is sending their rapists" speech, his "grab 'em by the pussy" recording, etc etc. And that's just in his first term. But they're convinced now?

I don't buy it. And I don't want fascists as my comrades-in-arms. Or even fascist-adjacent people, which IMO is a distinction without a difference. If they truly understood the full consequences of their vote for Trump and actually regretted it, right now they'd be seeking forgiveness from the people they, frankly, victimized. But they're not. That's not an ally I can rely on. That's not a coalition which will last. Even if Trump goes, Trumpism will be around for the foreseeable future. The people who voted for him will vote for the next fascist the first chance they get.

I choose moral clarity, even if it's at the expense of political effectiveness. Maybe that makes me an extremist- so be it. None of the literally thousands of horrible things Trump has done over the years were deal-breakers for Republicans. It was only when gas prices went up 5 cents per-gallon that they started to have misgivings. So forgive me if I ask myself whether they consider Trump's fascism to be a bug, or a feature.

A vote for Trump should never wash off. It should be an embarrassing family secret for generations to come.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#528

Post by aenis »

cobbzilla wrote: post #238
aenis wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is an authoritarian country for decades now. It first dawned on me when i visited NYC some 30 years ago. I stepped over some arbitrary yellow line I wasn't supposed to - the uniformed cop that noticed that went from 0 to 100 in 0.1 second and behaved as if I just pulled a gun. Zero time to reflect and assume I might have made a legitimate mistake. Since then I've visited U.S. >150 times, and in my experience…

America is not NYC. NYC is proud of its police-state apparatus. Most of the rest of the country is very different.

I know, I've been to many places, and met lots of fantastic, friendly people. But the attitude towards police - the dead seriousness of any and all interactions - no wrong moves, or else - is frankly frightening.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#529

Post by guywithahat »

recursive wrote: post #290
guywithahat wrote: post #284

Maybe I'm just getting old but I dislike these implicit call to destructive action articles, even if I don't like the surveillance. It is not incumbent upon the public to destroy surveillance cameras, and it's probably a bad sign for society if they are. If you destroy one of these cameras you will probably be arrested, and it will ruin your life. We can elect officials who oppose these cameras, and encouraging peopl…

A lot of the people doing it would probably agree that it's a bad sign that it's necessary. And further that most elections have become a false choice, and aren't effective, as they're so far removed from the changes necessary.

It’s not necessary though, that’s the point. You can vote and voice your opinion. You may have to compromise on other things but you can simply vote for candidates with better solutions to crime and/or who want to remove the cameras

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#530

Post by magicalist »

majorchord wrote: post #414
magicalist wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and for good measure get rid of the tracking device in your pocket that you willingly use all day to send your location to facebook, X, tiktok, etc. I don't have facebook, X, or tiktok installed on my phone.

Most phones have a cellular modem in it, and as long as it is on and functioning normally, even without a valid SIM, it can still be tracked by any provider or person/group/government controlling that provider, even triangulated to a more precise location, 24/7.

> it can still be tracked by any provider or person/group/government controlling that provider, even triangulated to a more precise location, 24/7.

Which as of 2018 requires a warrant to get access to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_v._United_States

We want a government and law enforcement that can investigate wrongdoing, but we want that access to be checked and limited, and, most importantly, we want the government actually following the checks and limitations they're supposed to be subject to.

Which brings us back to data laundering companies like Flock.

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