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A comment on Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surveillance. Parent comment

Re:Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surve... by gambiting on Friday May 05, 2017 @05:55AM (#14272260)
Hmmmm, I come from a former socialist republic(Poland) that definitely wasn't a dictatorship, and yet the survailence was extremely widespread(each telephone call would begin with the operator announcing "this conversation is being monitored"), you had secret police keeping secret files on citizens along with the doctrine of "no one is innocent, you just need to gather enough data about someone". Protesting the ruling party? We'll find this one time you did something 6 years earlier and put you in jail for it. Completely unrelated to the protest, of course.

I live in UK now and it's absolutely terrifying how every move by the UK government reminds me of the stories told about the communism back home.

Sure, communism itself might not be about reducing democracy, but I guess it would be very hard to find an example where it didn't.

Edit: ok, according to wikipedia, I'm wrong:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_United_Workers%27_Party

"Until 1989, the PUWP held dictatorial powers"

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surve... by matt4077 on Friday May 05, 2017 @05:18PM (#14276904)
Loving the correction! The world needs more people like you!

I believe there are two separate axes. You can have a free market without civil liberties (i. e. Singapore, or Germany ca. 1933-1945), or a less-free market with civil liberties (maybe the Nordic model). "Dictator" is really only concerned with the latter, apparently, although I have always associated it with the political right.

You're right in thinking that it appears hard to be truly democratic without (some form of) a free market. At least I can't think of an example. And I've met many eastern Europeans with an aversion to even slightly left-of-center economic policies because of their history. But communism doesn't have a monopoly on being terrible to its citizens.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surve... by glubGlub on Friday May 05, 2017 @06:19AM (#14272345)
An economic system regulating common business interactions and transactions among citizens and civilian organizations is not to be equivocated with a system of government exercising authority and enforcing behavior through police, military and state apparatuses.

A system of authority and security does not operate at an economic level of autonomy. A regimented heirarchy differs from the conceptual model of interaction among autonomous individuals and organizational collectives.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surve... by quirkafleeg on Friday May 05, 2017 @06:40AM (#14272433)
> Sure, communism itself might not be about reducing democracy, but I guess it would be very hard to find an example where it didn't.

Replacing "communism" with "government" may be just as accurate.

[ Parent | on HN ]