Who among us is truly free?

4/1/2014

www.youtube.com

The BBC has taken a survey about what freedom means to the individual. The poll was conducted in 17 countries around the world to be used as part of Freedom Live. This will be a day of broadcasts on the World Service's 27 language services exploring the idea of what freedom means.

A majority of participants in the poll believe the internet has brought greater freedom.

Well of course that's true. Never before could a disabled grandmother make friends with like-minded people around the world. There is no judgment about physical attributes between people who can't see each other—simply a sharing of ideas and thoughts on our lives.

However, more than half of those interviewed revealed that it is not a safe place to express their opinions. Many believe that greater freedom goes hand in hand with increased government surveillance.

Braveheart

We know people are scanning what we say over the internet. So far, the implications have not sunk in for me. Does that mean I shouldn't tell you about the difficulty I'm having in finding the money to pay for a refurbished Windows 7 to replace my Windows XP which will soon be unsafe to use? Maybe crawling 'bots' will gobble up this information, alert spammers and I'll receive sham 'helpful' offers. Other than that, I don't know how surveillance could be used against me.

See the full BBC article, which will open in a separate tab, here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26824802

If I really paid attention to the ramifications, I wouldn't write a daily blog. How many of you feel the same?

8 Comments

The Great Gordino link

3/31/2014 07:08:12 pm

Hi Francene,
I've never been bothered about surveillance - it's always been going on, and the internet just means a different way of doing it. I'm from the school that I don't do anything wrong so have little to worry about, I imagine you'd have to be consistently doing something dodgy to rise up on 'their' radar!
Cheers, Gordon

Francene link

3/31/2014 08:30:39 pm

Wise words. And of course, you're right. Best to remain positive. But there is always someone eager to take advantage of another person.

Suzy link

3/31/2014 07:34:50 pm

We live in so much constant fear of this and that. If you want to write, write - with faith and courage.

Francene link

3/31/2014 08:31:55 pm

I love your upbeat mindset. Faith and courage, I have in abundance. I hope everyone else is of the same mindset.

Nick link

3/31/2014 10:44:25 pm

It depends on what you mean as free?

If you want to make a change why not join Liberty?

lisa prince

4/1/2014 01:28:38 am

no one is ever free , not from pain or debts or loneliness or something, we alwyas have something we have to do each day , but i do love braveheart its my most fave film

Francene link

4/1/2014 03:19:44 am

Of course, you're right. But we should be free to pursue our own interests without Big Brother watching.
Braveheart was a great film.

Bek Mugridge link

4/1/2014 07:23:03 am

What an interesting post. I am not overall y bothered by surveillance either but freedom is something very important to all I believe.

Francene Stanley:
Author
I use news items in my fantasy novels.

Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books on the sidebar below?
I blogged 260 days last year. Link.