RPI Chairman and Founder Ron Paul, in a wide-ranging Alex Jones Show interview on Tuesday, commented on the potential of technology to counter “the abusive state.” Noting that government will always use technology for war and against the people, Paul says that in response “we have to try to get the smart people on our side to make sure the technology protects our liberty.”
Paul elaborates:
For not centuries but thousands of years all technology has been used for the state and enhanced war. Whether it’s jet power, nuclear energy, or whatever, it’s always been used to build bigger and worse weapons. And I think now we are moving into an age where we are capable as human beings to take technology and use it to do exactly the opposite. I know that it is early on and it’s a big transition and it might be a stretch, but why not? Why not even think that it’s a possibility that we can use technology for the advancement of peace and prosperity rather than using it to enhance the power of the state?
As Paul mentions in the interview, cell phone companies are including encryption, or making encryption operate by default, on new cell phones. While this encryption will be less than perfect in protecting people’s private information from the government, its inclusion on new phones from large companies such as Apple and Google indicates those companies see significant demand for privacy protection. If Paul is right in suspecting we are in an early stage of a big transition, this move with cell phone encryption may be one of the small steps now that will be followed by big technological steps for privacy protection in the future. Concern about those big steps in the future is likely driving talk of legislation to ensure “backdoor” government access people’s private information.
In the interview, Paul also addresses Ebola, the US government’s war on ISIS, and the 28 pages redacted from the 2002 United States House of Representatives and Senate Intelligence Committees’ report on the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, among other matters.
Watch the complete interview here:
