Invasion of Privacy

Uncharacteristic of my usual blog content, I want to say a few words about advertising.  It seems odd to me that so much fuss was made about privacy when the government was searching bundles of phone lines to apprehend connections with potential terrorists—that’s not listening in on private conversations, it was seeking to know about connections with foreign powers—yet there was an outcry in the media.

As for the privacy issue, my privacy is invaded on a daily basis through my house phone and cell phone robocalls; through the internet via uninvited and unwanted ads in email and messages; through the mail with a sea of printed advertising, and through TV which seems to have become devoted more to constant ads than programming—I pay to have TV yet I’m subjected to endless advertising.

I have faithfully watched CBS Morning Show for years.  They have important and accurate news, interesting guests on a variety of topics as well as friendly and humorous banter between their reporters—it’s a well-rounded informative show.  But over the years the advertising has increased to the degree that I estimate equal time is now given to ‘stuff’ other than the show itself.  Many ads are the same ones over and over and they have added   more advertising for their other CBS shows.  In addition to repetitive advertising, time is consumed by long weather/traffic reports repeated every 10 to 15 minutes and between ads they insert shots of the reporters around the table to make viewers think the show has returned in case they zoomed ahead to skip the ads.  I no longer want to watch it on live TV.  The effect of the onslaught of advertising from all directions has alienated me to the extent that I deliberately avoid purchasing things that are over-advertised.  

If the government is to protect our privacy, why is there no effort to protect us from the invasion of unwanted advertising over our phones, the Internet, TV we pay to receive, and the US mail?  Why is it OK for advertising sources to collect data to learn an individual’s preferences and aim specific advertising at them?  Why is there no privacy protection there?

It seems to be a confirmation that our consumerism is out of hand.

Unfair and Unjust

In a week the transfer of political power in the U.S. will have occurred and I hope to return my attention to the other serious thoughts that concern me.  This election has disquieted me at a fundamental level, not because a Republican won, but because Donald Trump won unfairly and unjustly.  From the Primary’s very beginning his major tactic was to use lies, insults, and libelous innuendoes and threats.  Because those outbursts were sensational, he got much more than a fair share of media attention.  His bombastic approach unleashed the simmering anger and discontent bubbling below the surface in some segments of our society since the financial meltdown of 2008.  (That Obama’s administration saved us from that near disaster was forgotten.)

Trump shouted that our system of government was “broken” and “rigged” and only he could “fix it”.  He made the outlandish claim that he knows more than the generals.  Toward the end of the campaigning the public learned that our information systems had been hacked by the Russians, secrets stolen and misinformation fed in to discredit Hillary and aid Trump.  Despite all that, Hillary won the popular vote by millions but the presidency went to Trump because of the Electoral College system.  When all intelligence agencies agreed that Russia was responsible for the hacking, Trump publically criticized the agencies, defaming them as unworthy of our trust . . . and thus playing into Putin’s efforts to undermine our Democracy.

The man slated to become our next president I believe to be a disastrous choice for this country, which is founded on such high principles and ideals.  With the change in power there will be a dramatic shift of the central focus: from humanitarian concerns for the health and well being of people and our planet to power, appearances, and profit.

* * *

I sometimes like to explore the Psalms and re-write contemporary versions of the thoughts they contain—on seeking something appropriate for here, my attention was drawn to Psalm 10, which I took directly without modernizing but condensed using two translations, NIV and GNB.

           

Psalm 10: 1-7, 11, 14

1          Why are you so far away, O Lord?

            Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?

2          In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak

                 who are caught in the schemes he devises.

3          He is proud of his evil desires

                  he blesses the covetous and rejects the Lord.

4          In their pride the wicked do not seek the Lord,

                  in all their thoughts there is no room for God.

5          The wicked man succeeds in everything

                  he is haughty and Your laws are far from him

                  he sneers at all his enemies.

6          He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me,

                  I will never fail or have trouble”.

7          His speech is filled with curses, lies and threats

                  he is quick to speak hateful evil words.

11       He says to himself “God doesn’t care, he has closed his eyes”.

14       But you, O God, do see—and will call him to account.

* * *

On a more hopeful note I turn to a few verses from

Psalm 27:13

13       I am still confident of this:

                  I will see the goodness of the Lord

                  in the land of the living.

14       Wait for the Lord;

                  be strong and take heart

                  and wait for the Lord.