United States of Secrets

I was already aware of most of the things that we saw in the documentary “United States of Secrets”. For this reason I have been very hesitant to be involved in any kind of social media or to really join the world of technology at all. I just do not feel safe in the “cyber” world. The only problem with this is that technology is the way the world is moving forward and by not participating I find myself out of the loop in many way. I seem to move slowly toward letting go as I feel that in many ways I am forced to participate.

I did not learn how to text until it was the only way that I could get my children to communicate with me. If I called I would get no response, but if I sent a text, they responded immediately, so I relented and learned. I am not a fan of any kind of online banking and I resisted as long as I legally could. We own a business and I always paid my payroll taxes by sending a check. About two years ago the government decided that was no longer an option. I could not pay by check or even credit card; I had to pay by giving them access to my checking account with an online transfer. I was forced to comply or violate the law and pay. I did not have a “smart” phone until it was more expensive for me to buy a “dumb” one. I had never participated in any kind of social media until I took this class. I have been advised by many of my teachers that I need to learn to use social media if I was going to compete in the work force.

I find my resistance to be futile. Our society is moving in the direction of the convenience of technology, willing to sacrifice privacy and many freedoms for a little convenience. The resistance of few will not stop the forward motion of many. I often wonder what it will take to wake this generation from their trance of complacency.  It was brought up in class that no one wants to ruin their whole life to take a stand. When we look at history, were people not sacrificing their very lives that we might enjoy the freedoms that we now have. There will ALWAYS be sacrifice to actually make a difference and bring about change.  Will we just tell the next generation that we were too busy taking “selfies” to preserve our countries freedom?