[liberationtech] Fwd: Kashmir Telecom Blackout

Sat Aug 10 21:27:17 CEST 2019

The below appears to be trolling. However, let's assume it is inadvertent. 

The links I posted show that modern phones can self-construct highly redundant and secure mesh networks. If necessary, they could be powered by solar cells, thereby not depending on grid power. So, there is no need to demand connectivity as a right, you simply generate it using your phone.

Without connectivity we can’t have the discussions necessary for democracy. The focus on physical infrastructure distracts from facing the social problems generated by the oligarchy we now live under:

The location of the solar system in the galaxy, the distance of the Earth from the Sun, the composition of the atmosphere, and the level of sun spot activity all line up to ensure that poverty must continue.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/10/fighting-poverty-might-make-it-harder-fight-climate-change

Of course, this could have nothing to do with the fact that most media is controlled by a few super wealthy people:

https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world

It isn’t bravery we are being wished here. It is a trendy cowardice that looks for a meaning to existence in the failed religions of the past:

Lal (2000; UCLA DEPT. OF ECONOMICS WORKING PAPER No.: 814) suggests that a common religious narrative has been repeated in the history of the West:

The ecological movement is the latest manifestation of the various secular religions in the West once the Christian God died for so many with the Scientific and Darwinian revolutions. (p. 6)

From the Enlightenment to Marxism to Freudianism to Ecofundamentalism, Augustine's vision of the Heavenly City has had a tenacious hold on the Western mind. The same narrative with a Garden of Eden, a Fall leading to original Sin and a Day of Judgment for the Elect and Hell for the Damned keeps recurring. (p. 7)

Ecofundamentalism is the latest of these secular mutations of Augustine's "City of God" (Lal, 1995). It carries the Christian notion of contemptus mundi [contempt for the world] to its logical conclusion. Humankind is evil and only by living in harmony with a deified Nature can it be saved. The environmental movement (at least in its "deep" version) is now a secular religion in many parts of the West. (p. 8)

The spiritual and moral void created by the Death of God is, thus, increasingly being filled in the secular Western world by the worship of Nature. In a final irony, those haunted natural spirits which the medieval Church sought to exorcise so that the West could conquer its forests (see Southern), are now being glorified and being placed above Man.… The guilt evinced against sinning against God has been replaced by that of sinning against Nature. Saving Spaceship Earth has replaced the saving of souls! (p. 9)

<http://time.dufe.edu.cn/wencong/ucla/wp814.pdf> (Downloaded May 21, 2011)

Find the solid science here:

http://cosmism.blogspot.dk/2010/05/existentialism-today-terror-management.html

dss

> On 10 Aug 2019, at 13:55, Adrien Luxey <adrien at luxeylab.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> I want to react on the following: "Have we reached a point where people are entitled to demand connectivity as a fundamental human right?" I'd answer "No, never".
> 
> Indeed, societies need to grow less dependable on the power infrastructure (including networks), and not enforce its availability in human rights. Indeed, in the long run, our civilizations will not be able to keep up with the "always available" policy for energy, and we should rather learn to have "some of the lights off" sometimes, as proposed by this LowTech Magazine article. The power supply should be prioritized for vital infrastructures e.g. healthcare, primary goods delivery and the like, but the average citizen would be better off if they learned how to cope without electricity sometimes.
> 
> I hope this adds grain to your mill, and wish you bravery,
> Regards,
> Adrien
> 
> On 10/08/2019 11:29, David Stodolsky wrote:
>> Social WiFi / Mesh Networks may be the only option, if centralize communication systems are being shutdown by the centralized governments. It looks like most of the software is ready to go and there are some hardware projects too. Here are some Mesh Network links.
>> 
>> 
>> Serval is a mature project supporting both hardware and software:
>> 
>> http://www.servalproject.org/
>> 
>> https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-use-serval-mesh-to-chat-to-other-mobile-phones-without-a-phone-network-android/
>> 
>> 
>> Hardware:
>> 
>> https://gotenna.com/
>> 
>> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xyg5jd/gotenna-mesh-networking-for-smartphones
>> 
>> https://beartooth.com/
>> 
>> https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/using-old-access-points-to-make-a-mesh-network.3346843/
>> 
>> 
>> Blockchain based:
>> 
>> https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.04078
>> 
>> https://decenter.org/en/what-is-the-mesh-network-and-why-is-it-our-future
>> 
>> https://www.rightmesh.io/
>> 
>> https://www.blockmesh.io/
>> 
>> https://ammbr.com/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Toronto:
>> 
>> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4xa3zq/toronto-gets-its-own-free-encrypted-mesh-network-CRTC-meshnet
>> 
>> https://www.reddit.com/r/darknetplan/comments/4h1jx1/toronto_gets_its_own_free_encrypted_mesh_network/
>> 
>> 
>> Germany:
>> 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freifunk
>> 
>> 
>> Oakland, CA:
>> 
>> https://peoplesopen.net/
>> 
>> 
>> Hong Kong:
>> 
>> https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26285-hong-kong-protesters-use-a-mesh-network-to-organise/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Legalistic framework:
>> 
>> http://picopeer.net/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Home oriented:
>> 
>> https://uk.pcmag.com/wireless-networking/87178/the-best-wi-fi-mesh-network-systems
>> 
>> 
>> http://www.tidepools.co/
>> 
>>                          Tidepools is a re-skinnable collaborative mobile mapping platform for gathering and sharing hyperlocal information and culture through expressive, community maps and data feeds, enabling greater connectivity and communication among neighbors and local organizations. 
>> 
>> 
>> Tidepools bridges the digital and physical space of a neighborhood, storing its data on local servers and broadcasted over WiFi so it can run even without reliance on an Internet connection. It integrates location-specific civic data in situ, including real time transit notifications and community safety issues. Community members can share events, user-created map layers and landmarks, and other local temporal information, creating a historical geospatial community database. 
>> 
>> Check out variations of Tidepools  IN THE WILD above, to see how Tidepools has been used in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Hurricane Sandy, Gezi Park Protests in Turkey, or for the Allied Media Conference in Detroit.                     
>> 
>> 
>>> On 9 Aug 2019, at 17:06, Josh Levy <josh at levjoy.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Thanks Arzak, I've been following this and it's awful. How are people in the region communicating with the outside world and asking for help? Is that even possible?
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Aug 9, 2019, at 11:01 AM, Arzak Khan wrote:
>>>> When critical infrastructure becomes a weapon. 
>>>> 
>>>> Large parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir were subjected to a total telecommunications blackout this week, as the Indian government passed new legislation to reduce the region’s political autonomy
>> 
>> 
>> David Stodolsky, PhD                   Institute for Social Informatics
>> Tornskadestien 2, st. th., DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark
>> dss at socialinformatics.org          Tel./Viber: +45 3095 4070
>> 
>> 
> 
> -- 
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David Stodolsky, PhD                   Institute for Social Informatics
Tornskadestien 2, st. th., DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark
dss at socialinformatics.org          Tel./Viber: +45 3095 4070