12 Dead in Cumbria shooting spree

[ayase]

Perhaps I'm less afraid of the government physically coming and killing me (but then again, Jean Charles de Menezes) than I am of their increasing power and increasing authoritarianism - The physical powerlessness of the ordinary people meaning they are unchallenged in this and free to come up with any law or tax they like and inflict it upon us. If we don't comply, it's a hefty fine or off to prison. And there's bugger all we can do about it.

Personally I treat anyone who claims to know what's best for me and to be working in the public interest as dangerous and / or deluded. No-one knows what's best for me but me, and personally I don't see why anyone should have power over anyone else. And it is a massive con because those same people who claim to be doing what's best for us are in fact doing what is best for their corporate paymasters without whom they'd never be in those positions of power. So the people "elect" those who the media and corporate world want (and they have Red, Blue and now Yellow teams in their pockets so there's no choice) who then carry out their bidding, which is generally transferring more and more wealth and power from individuals into the hands of already wealthy and powerful organisations.

I think an important part of retaining your individual freedom in a world where it is being eroded day by day is being able to physically defend yourself and yes, even the ability to threaten with force those who would take it from you. It's the same logic most nations use to defend themselves, what's wrong with having that on a personal level?

 

[Mutsumi]

I think an important part of retaining your individual freedom in a world where it is being eroded day by day is being able to physically defend yourself and yes, even the ability to threaten with force those who would take it from you. It's the same logic most nations use to defend themselves, what's wrong with having that on a personal level?

I believe that with a country it is fair to assume that the consequences of action against any individual have been logically considered, whereas an individual may be irrationally and illogically lashing out, thread subject case in point. An individual such as Derrick Bird poses more threat to me in my opinion because they do not adhere to any sensible logic, they do not act for their own personal gain nor consider the consequences of their actions. Organisations, however, will only do what is best for themselves, so by my own actions I can choose to live in a way that does not impede these organisations, and thus makes me an individual they would gain no benefit from harming.

Ayase, have you played Mirror's Edge on PS3/X360? If so, what would you think of the world in that? Or at least, the world as it is in that game immediately prior to the first level, where the police begin to fire on the runners? What would you think of it if the real world started down the path we see in the Mirror's Edge back story?

The Jean Charles de Menezes incident is complicated. If it had been uniformed police it would have been simple, but there is the honest chance that he was completely unaware they were police. Still, that incident was not the specific targeting of an innocent for malicious purposes, but a case of bad intel. No organisation gained from this.