I think having a digital ID system is very important in the modern age but where it is required needs to be limited. You should not need to use it where it isn't strictly necessary. We have one in Finland too. You will almost entirely use it to use official services that would need your ID in person as well. In this proposal, the issue is not digital ID but how it would be used. First, where it would be used could compromise revealing too much of your identity when you want privacy and secondly and more importantly, it could compromise revealing your private actions to the government. Latter can move into highly problematic territory when criminalizing actions that should not be criminalized.

History fits the majority of Eastern European countries but yes as said they are Estonian. Actually, now that I think about it can't really think of any Eastern European countries that it doesn't fit at all.

People have no idea what it means. Like no grasp even when stories are everywhere. I'm an aid worker. Focusing on refugees. They can't even imagine what they go through and what the people who never got to me/safety survived until unsurvivable came in front of them.

There was very successful vilification of unions from my understanding as well. I find the discussion about unions with Americans really interesting as from my Finnish perspective they are the cornerstone of workers' rights.

While trans rights are at least in the US as much or more under fire, in Europe it has also been refugees. On that front, it has gone from "just" criminalizing and harassing that group but also people who somehow are supporting that group. Which is only really relevant to show how far we are in the journey towards fascism in the West.

It is insane enough that I actually have to weekly remind myself that this is reality.

I'm so, so, so sorry. My infraorbital nerve runs through my maxillary sinus and I had really fucking bad 3-month sinus infection that caused nerve pain on that isolated nerve (among a lot of other things). I can't imagine how you are dealing with this even though I do have nerve pain elsewhere.

This summer I have switched my Reddit, web browser, password manager, laptop, external keyboard, mouse type and now I either have to learn to live with Windows 11 or deal with the head ache of installing Linux. In other words I feel you. And figuring how to make Windows 11 to be tolerable and having to look into keyboard as touch typist is annoying as hell. I am not sure how I can completely degoogle myself as I use or used everything they have although not for really sensitive content in long, long time. But the fact is my gmail is my first adult email address and is even older than my Reddit account is.

I remember some time in high school somewhere around their IPO my friend told me google will be the next really big thing. If I had had listened listened him and had had some money I might have become a lot richer than I am. There was some now weird optimism and exitement around the now big tech companies. The vision I have of google is really different now than then but I still carry some attachement as sentimental person. I guess I am taking steps. And if anyone has input into which securish cloud storage to use that is somewhat cheap for multiple terabyte of things and can be used from file explorer, please tell me. Thankfully sensitive data is mostly elsewhere.

Basically in those situations people find new ways to be connected. For example, while satellite dishes are banned in Iran they are pretty common in that if you don't have one you propably know someone who has. Mesh networks are currently being used in Sudan and have been in other countries where government has shut down internet. Usually shutdowns and restrictions don't happen without warning so people have usually started to smuggle in satellite internet devices. But there are two huge issues. One. you need certain level of technological literacy and there is often some financial cost applied. If you asked my mom what is dark web she would look me weirdly. Partially as her English is not great but I have never heard anyone actually using the Finnish version but mainly because she has no idea what it is. Majority of people are somewhat priced out of satellite internet globally. And no one has heard of mesh networks unless they are techies, activists or people who have experienced government severely limiting internet access.

I am always astounded about how big of procentage manage to stay connected. Need really is mother of inventions. But if you put my mom, stepdad or stepmom in these situations, they would have no idea where to start. The rest of my immediate family would figure it out as we are more or less techies.

I don't think it is about flipping a coin between open-minded and close-minded but about radicalization. While it is harder to see with QAnon, radicalization be it right, left (although you have to go really far on the horseshoe), or religious is staunchly anti-intellectualistic. Once you believe in ideas or at least do not see them as really distasteful, it gets easier to go towards more and more batshit insane ideas.

While I am not sure if there is actual research on how age affects radicalization, research on radicalization has identified certain things that make it likelier for a person to be radicalized. Vulnerability, marginalization, and othering are all pretty common. To extend it there might be an age group vulnerability of 45 and up age group because of either being empty nesters or kids at least starting to be a lot more independent.

There is also somewhat of a domino effect. People like to be part of a group. If people don't give any legitimacy to radicalized viewpoints, it makes it harder to be radicalized. The problem with this is also how hidden ideas can become mainstream as has at least in Western countries happened with the alt-right, they can reach a scary critical mass. Once you have been tempered with completely crazy viewpoints at one point thinking JFK Jr will be resurrected is not that weird anymore.

Over a decade ago when I started to get really worried about the rise of fascism in the West, my mom thought I was insane. Now we have had (not American) actual neo-Nazi as minister and no one of the ministerial parties thought it was a huge enough deal to actually not do it. In my books that means they all are neo-Nazies. My mom also doesn't think I am insane anymore. The tools they used to gain power are not new. We are just not taught to identify them. I was because it would be a pretty bad idea to have someone in my profession if not aware of signs of radicalization.

Of course use Signal or Matrix but please don't think that makes your messaging entirely impenetrable. I am not saying their end-to-end encryption has been breached. But a compromised device is a compromised device. Signal might be secure at least for now, but is your keyboard?

We do live in times of zero-click spyware and while the general public doesn't necessarily have to worry about things like Pegasus atm, it is still used increasingly and not just against people who break the law.

I do my best, although I do fail to be up to date every once in a while, to stay as secure as possible, but to think any communication is entirely secure is not a good policy.

I don't think that is an old person trait. You are just secretly Nordic.

Mine is very similar. Loudness annoys me but the rest of the inconsiderate behavior that seems to be more common to teenagers drives me bonkers. My teenage neighbors moved last week. First, they did not first empty the elevator of the 50 apartment building but tried to take stuff directly to the car after cigarette break. While three people were waiting to use elevator. Then they left some furniture in entrance hall that would be whatever but by doing it they blocked two doors to building common storages that are commonly used until late next day. Another thing is littering when the trash baskets are right there. And yes, I said something and felt like old man screaming for them to get out of my lawn. I guess I have reachem my rackety old man stage while being thirty something woman.