0x02 - Tech and resistance
I have a lot of oppinions why we should not rely on tech in order to form resistance. Most tech is owned by the capitalist feudalists and freeing a piece of tech or misusing it to your advantage requires knowledge and skill
But as I am thinking about this, I realize that my emotions towards thech are clouding my judgement. The spaces in which you typically learn how to own your tech (by the means of free software, self-hosted services, etc.) are full of toxic men and classist catgirls. A lot of it is developed by utter dipshits.
Now, a similar thought can be made about firearms. Tehey are manufactured and traded by traders of death. Relying on them includes depending on the manufacture of munitions, typically done by other traders of death. Yet, they are a viable tool. Similarly, they require training and skill. The spaces in which acquire them and the skills to use them are flooded with toxic dipshits. Yet, their utility in militant resistance groups stands undenied.
I am not gonna advocate to use tech in contexts where not using tech is the safer option. A walk in the woods with a trusted comerade will always be the safer option to using whatever crypto-messenging tool available. Leaflets, distributed by hand remain less tracable and more censorship resistant than a social media post. But there are contexts in which leveraging the existing tech is beneficial. We are few and far apart. Meeting in person can be more dangerous in certain circumstances. A known physical space for interaction might be inaccessible.
There exists a certain gender of tech aware people within our spaces. Those will usually educate people about using non-capitalist tech (free software, non-corperate services, etc.) in order to replace the capitalist services people depend on by offering drop-in replacements. "Use Linux instead of Windows. Flash your phone with this google-free OS. Use Matrix instead of Signal. Etc. Etc. PP." While all of those tools are better than what the factory has to offer, shifting our dependency from a set of capitalists to a set of collectives leaves us with a lighter version of the same problem.
A fascist state will do everything in its power to undermine such efforts. None of those tools alone will be safe by default once going underground is a necessity. Deeper education is needed among our communities. And as with other specialized skillsets, just like medicine, repairs, etc. I expect covert tech to be one that will be delegated to only a subset of a community.
To be continued...
Tags: thoughts, tech, resistance