[hackerspaces] Out with the "hackers"... In with the, "makers" and the "fixers"

[Will Bradley]

The problem is that technology for rockets used to shoot down missiles can
be repurposed to shoot at other stuff. "Non lethal" weapons are being used
on peaceful citizens. Nuclear science can be used for energy or
destruction. The internet can be used to liberate and to oppress.

Technology is entwined with morality and you really have to be conscious of
how your actions affect humanity. Wernher Von Braun created rockets that
were involved in killing 19,250 people, but he also created the rocket that
landed us on the moon. Could we have gotten to the moon without him?
Probably. Was it worth thousands of lives and the evils of ICBMs? Maybe not.

Even in the benign IT industry, computers and software bring efficiency.
Efficiency means less people are needed, which means layoffs. As an IT pro,
am I ok with that? What do I do to enrich lives rather than impair? It's
not always easy or profitable.
On Nov 29, 2011 4:32 PM, "Phillip Rhodes" <motley.crue.fan at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Mars brown <itcamefrommars at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Oh this DARPA stuff disturbs me on the deepest level.
>
> Wow, yeah, this is a bit, erm, odd...
>
> > It's not a big anti-military kind of opinion... so please don't take it
> that
> > way - but rather I want nothing to directly do with death and
> destruction in
> > any form for any cause.
> >
>
> Personally, being a libertarian, I would never suggest that any
> individual hacker shouldn't be
> free to do whatever he/she wants, so long as they're not violating
> anyone else's rights...
> but I personally *hope* hackers steer clear of helping the US
> government and it's
> corrupt / evil / corporatist / cronyism-based / empire building /
> civil-liberties-robbing
> agenda.
>
> Now working on technologies that have military application in terms of
> self-defense; I could
> never argue against that.  The use of hacker skills to oppose tyranny,
> well... That I could
> never criticize.
>
>
> Phil
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