Are we our own worst enemy? Have we
created a world of 24/7 connectivity which allows others to track our
every move? Or, worse, given our adversaries a weapon to use against
us?
With the Russian interference in our
2016 election, and our president's insistence in refusing to believe
it even happened, are we seeing a threat that reaches inside our
borders, which no wall can stop?
This first video is a short interview
with author David Sanger, who wrote The
Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age. You'll have to follow the link to YouTube on the screen.
This second video is a full length
documentary on a vulnerability we all face as we navigate the wilds
of the internet world.
Perhaps staying off the grid just a
little isn't such a bad thing.
It strikes me after watching Trump's
performance in Europe and everyone's reaction to it that we have
forgotten who we are. Whether or not Trump has been deliberately
trying to destabilize the United States, Europe, or our alliances, in
some kind of payback to Putin for past monetary favors is really
irrelevant to what we need to focus on. That question is for others
to investigate. No, what we as Americans or citizens of what is
called the West need to remember is something larger.
Why was America created, why did we in
the West fight against Nazi Germany? Simply put it was to create a
world where people do have a say in their own governance. It was to
create a world where we the people could get to decide how our lives
are lived. We did not want to leave it up to a single person, like a
dictator or a king/queen, to control how we lived. Sure, we the
people have made mistakes, it comes with being human. Yes, even
that greed that rears its head in the search for easy money. But
because we have made mistakes does not mean we need a single “strong
man” to tell us how to live.
President Trump has continually
attacked the press as giving us “fake news”. We need to remember
that the press, even with all its faults, does serve a purpose. It
is our eyes and ears to events and actions taken by others on our
behalf. It is our watchdog, and that is the real reason it is being
attacked by President Trump. There is a scene from the movie “The
Post” which says it best.
President Trump has attacked our allies
and our alliances, for whatever reason, but we need to remember that
they were put in place for a reason. They are not our enemies.
They may not have always agreed with everything we did, but they have
stood our friends when needed the most. And before we throw them
over for someone like Putin it would be in our interest to also
remember who Putin really is. His idea of governance is exactly what we have fought against.
We the people have some strong tools
put in place to make sure that government by the people, for the
people continues to exist. But it is really up to us to exercise
them.
As long as we believe in ourselves, we
can overcome those who would tear us apart.
