I attended a Flag Day Ceremony today, and what catches in my mind are the symbols and ideals that give form to the nation's flag. It was quite an interesting history of the changes the flag has made through time...beginning before the nation was independent and sovereign.
But what saddens my heart is how the symbols and ideals that formed and created this nation feel empty and meaningless in practice. WWI and WWII veterans...THEY understand the meaning of the ideals, but I do not see this in everyday practice....particularly with the younger generations whose minds have been inculcated with social media before it has been taught to question and make informed choices.
I don't understand why more people aren't upset by the privacy violations of social media (particularly Facebook), or the slow erosions of our civil liberties in the name of "homeland security."
I have been told to lead an exemplary life so that I don't have to worry about what is being monitored. I've been told to not be driven by fear. I've been told that God's in charge, but I can just as emphatically report that God might be In Charge....but God is not in charge of Facebook, that is for certain!
There are so many wonderful aspects of social media that I think people don't understand the moral compass that guides it. Mark Zuckerberg is no paragon of moral virtue. This is a man whose first major social media success was the creation of a website called "Hot or Not." People's photos were posted (without their knowledge or permission), and then people voted if the people were "Hot" or "Not (Hot)." This is the early roots of Facebook, so I am not surprised by the creepy way Facebook lurks through the pieces of my life for a way to make money.
Facebook is NOT my friend.
I recently watched a video about Facebook, where the person uses the metaphor of Facebook as a friend. I love this metaphor, because it clarifies hiw insidious it's invasion is.
If Facebook were a friend, this friend would come into my home (whether I'm there, or not) to search through my stuff. Facebook would go onto my computer and read all of my emails to find any tidbit of information that it could sell to sleezy advertisers. Facebook would go through my personsl address book and retrieve personal information about all of my friends (without their permission, as well) to use in advertisements to make money...me and my friends, of course receive nothing.
If Facebook were a friend, it would use my computer's camera and microphone to listen in on what I am saying, what I'm watching on TV, what I'm listening to...then sell that information, again, to advertisers forbits own monetary gain (never mine).
If Facebook were a friend, it would search through the history of every single website I've visited for information to sell...as well as any other applications that I may be using.
I would never allow this kind of "friend" into my home, but that's exactly what we all do when we align ourselves with Facebook.
Facebook is no one's friend.
Facebook isn't the only problem, of course...but I am just amazed by how complacent the vast majority of people have become about personal rights and civil liberties. We read books like George Orwell's1984, and we say we would never allow that, but we have. And I can't help but wonder what our founding fathers would think about what we as a nation have done to the personal rights and civil liberties that was bought with the blood of many generations of true patriots.
The idealism of our nation is being sold off in tiny bits of personal information to greedy advertisers and corporate control, but the frightening truth is that we have all granted permission for this idealistic erosion to take place each and every time we accept the terms of service agreements by Facebook and other traffickers of human information.
I am not ashamed of my life, and I am certainly not afraid of what these creepy vendors will find when they lurk through the pieces of my life. But I am outraged by the arrogance of people like Mark Zuckerberg (as well as our government) who think they are somehow entitled to do with my life in whatever manner they chooses...regardless of my privacy rights.
I have deleted Facebook applications from my phone, but this is far from the last of my efforts to protect my rights. I suppose if the rest of the world wants to relinquish them, then that is their choice to do so....but it will no longer be mine.
Once relinquished, it is no easy thing to get our personal rights and civil liberties back.
I am an idealistic person, so priciples and symbols of our nation's idealism are important to me. I don't have a good answer yet for this problem...but I am searching for one...so, I will find one....I will absolutely find one.
