Dimensionally Barrett

On the face of it, this seems platitudinous. “Help out X charity, it’ll help the greater cause.” To be sure, that is or can be, the case. However, Snyder is aiming at something subtler and no less important. To paraphrase him a bit, being active in organizations “political or not”, express your own view of life. Not only that, but supporting a group or organization is very much a way of engaging in civil society. By now, it should be apparent that almost every suggestion that Snyder has presented meets the individual on her own terms and addresses her place in the wider civic context. All politics is local and just as much, if not more, personal. The support of a group that aligns with your values amplifies those values. “Political or not” is a phrase I don’t understand; as I’ve stated baldly, everything we do is political. Some would have me qualify that with “in the Aristotelian sense”, but I genuinely mean it. It doesn’t mean that I’m...

Much of what Snyder suggests here are steps many of us have taken already to preserve some degree of privacy in an internet-connected world. Given circumstances, securing a dimension of privacy is more important than ever. There’s always been the fallacy of “well, I don’t have anything to hide” that few ever grasp. Even with a relatively benign authority, your iife and the lives of your loved ones are not your own, and should anyone want to make use of your data to compromise you, they very well could. Even if it was all manipulated and libelous, consider how your life would be updended. Consider the damage to reputation, legal fees, and again, how this would affect those you care for and about. The current regime is, emphatically, not a benign authority. If privacy was a specious commodity at best before now, it is now a potential weapon to be used private citizens as well as more public figures. Most of us assume that the right to privacy is part of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of...