How to withdraw consent?
January 2, 2012 11:11 AM

It's become obvious to me that protests and political action doesn't work. A new approach is required. How can we start to repress governments and corporations as payback to the ways they are doing it to us?

I'm sick and tired of hearing about the latest Congressional stupidity where they've decided that some innocuous activity (copying a file, growing food, etc. for examples) is a threat to national security, and thus demands we bypass the Constitution and almost a millennia of progress since the Magna Carta.

I'm looking for subtle, low risk strategies that people (esp. network admins, and computer users) can employ to leverage our numbers against them, and help slow the rapid motion back towards feudalism that we seem to have embarked upon.

Things like employing DNS servers that don't like .gov and .mil queries, and happen to drop most of them, or delay email to/from them are just a crude example of what I'm seeking.

Why should we stand by when a bunch of thieves have stolen the reigns of organized government? We can organize ourselves in such a manner to put a bit of grit in the iron fist, make it rust a bit, and require some consideration before it gets used again.

Government requires consent, I wish to express the withdrawal of a portion of my consent in an effective manner.
posted by MikeWarot to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: This is too much of a rant and not enough of a question. Maybe repost and ask again next week, please? -- jessamyn

Things like employing DNS servers that don't like .gov and .mil queries, and happen to drop most of them, or delay email to/from them are just a crude example of what I'm seeking.


Dirty tricks haven't been shown to be terribly effective. Why not try running for office, supporting a candidate who represents you, raising money for groups you like, etc.?
posted by Ideefixe at 11:16 AM on January 2, 2012


"protests and political action doesn't work"

I'm not sure what you mean. Political action is defined as that type of action that makes a difference to governmental affairs. Perhaps you're talking about ritualized political actions like voting, which rely on powerful people putting the right options on the ballot before they can make any difference.
posted by LogicalDash at 11:18 AM on January 2, 2012


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