The worst did happen Dachs, but the establishment took no notice just like they usually do…
I could make a list of a whole bunch of other stuff that was sneaked in that nobody wanted or voted for, but it came to pass anyway…
I think you are under the misconception that we live in a democratic society… 
It’s called ‘social engineering’
In China it’s called ‘communism’
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I hope I’m not, Bob. I’ve also lived in a dictatorship, so I know the difference. The thing is the alternative we’re faced with doesn’t look any better. I’m not saying I’m blissfully happy with our society. No doubt there’s a strong need for reforms. The crux, however, is that the alternative movement, when in power, is going to throw the baby out…instead of changing society as it is necessary. I’d prefer a middle course and more convincing alternative solutions. The movement intends to destroy but is devoid of ideas what to do instead.
Just tell me what the worst was, for a start.
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Facial recognition being rolled out across the board with no consent for a start. AI systems being rolled out with no consultation. Jobs are being sacrificed to AI but not sure who voted for any of this. We are being snooped on, listened to and it’s ordinary people who are victimised. My friends husband shouted at his kids (yes he just shouted) and they now have social workers doing an assessment as his daughter mentioned it to a school teacher during an informal chat. He’s hard of hearing. She had a cycling accident last year and was in A&E and now they put 2 and 2 together to make 7 and the whole family are under review for months. Shouting at kids is now a cause for investigation by the authorities.
Doubtless some think this is all ok, but if you lived under the Stasi you will recognise these methods.
If you watched “Das Leben der Anderen” (fabulous film) you might remember the spook who watched the actor and his wife was sympathetic to their situation and suppressed some information. At least he was a human. Not so with AI, that will be heartless.
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This Dachs…Annies Post… 
And Like Annie posted earlier about the smoking ban. Most of the pubs here have closed down and the ones that stay open have to serve food. The tax on alcohol means that a six pack from the supermarket will be a quarter of the price you pay in the pub. There are lots of other overheads that landlords have to pay to stay in business, not least of which the the high cost of hiring staff. The no smoking ban was to improve the fitness of the masses and take the pressure off the hospitals, so how come the NHS is in the worse state than it’s ever been in. I don’t think the smoking ban had anything to do with the health of society…
They don’t want people congregating, they want you staying at home where they can see you.
Divide and conquer…
Flooding the country with fit young mercenaries…It might sound like a conspiracy theory but only realised when it’s too late…If it isn’t already…
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where your smart tv listens to you, where your mandatory smartphone (which you have the joy of purchasing and charging at your own cost) checks your movements and “helpful” AI can see and hear exactly what you say and browse. Where your access to all services can be cut off once cash is withdrawn, where you cannot even speak to a human about any problems because all services now have an “AI assistant” or use auto whatsapp chat instead of even using emails. It’s all rubbish and so confusing the older we get.
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And the worse thing is, the younger generation think that they understand it and can handle it…
Unlike Dachs where his countrymen had this world thrust upon them, we are having our freedoms taken away bit by bit, and not only don’t we notice, we actually help them to do it.
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That’s one of the things I miss most, talking to a human assistant on the phone, they’re very rare nowadays, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 
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Been to the city centre today taking the commuter train. Ironically, I had to enable the movement tracker on my mobile before hopping on the train. Using that app, in turn, is a logical reaction of passengers to the tariff jungle if they don’t want to study endlessly long regulations on ticket acquisition. Boils down to a chicken-and-egg question. It was the railway company that first came up with the tariff jungle driven by a desire to maximise profits to which customers reacted by using a mobility app at the expense of their personal freedom. I don’t see the state involved here. 
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In London there is an oyster card. The idea is that it replaces paper tickets and removes the need for ticket offices and the staff selling the tickets. Before the oyster was rolled out you could buy a ticket from a machine or from the office. Gradually they increased the cost of the tickets so that you were forced to use the oyster if you didn’t want to pay twice as much. The oyster has your full journey history recorded.
People are coaxed into giving up freedoms in this way. It’s more convenient to use the tech to track movements because they make the system so complex or so expensive if you don’t use the apps. Or there simply are no humans left to help you.
My view is that we are not consulted on such changes. It’s a stealthy takeover.
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I forgot to mention that one can switch off the movement tracker again after getting off the train, which I do. Now we need to trust the smartphone manufacturer as well as Google hoping that they are not too “talkative”. It’s a complex, Kafkaesque web of interdependencies in which we thrash around.
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I agree regarding those innovations but off-hand I can’t recall any examples of when there actually was consent, consultation, or votes prior to their introduction. Can you?
As for the shouting that seems to have been an overreaction reminding me of the mentality of block leaders from unfortunate times. Over here it’s because of this that at times people are waiting too long to the detriment of an abused child. Not advocating what happened, just saying that sometimes it may be a fine line to walk.
Yes, I’ve seen the film and thought it was good as long as one doesn’t take it as being true to reality which includes the alleged catharsis of that spook.