We’re surrounded by politicians and corporations who feel more and more threatened by us and by the Internet.

The corporations (most obviously represented by the media-maffia) feel threatened since people now have the power to distribute their own creative works with none or very little cost. This threatens a business-model that’s built on not creating anything, but by controlling the flow of creativity from others. The Internet has rendered record companies virtually obsolete, since musicians now can distribute their own music.

Politicians feel threatened by the Internet since it allows limitless communication. No longer do we have to rely on the filtered and controlled information that they allow us through controlled outlets such as radio and television. Instead we can communicate endlessly, and with immediate reaction. Blogs and chats and direct interaction between citizens threaten to overthrow their empire of bureaucracy. This is unacceptable for them, since they want to maintain the status quo where they can use a system they control against the majority of the citizens.

Add to this mix a lot of greed and stupidity and you have a recipe for a dystopian future where the most amazing invention humankind has ever created (the Internet) is being used to control the vast majority for the benefit of a small clique of self-appointed elite.

One of the most common thing proponents of a draconian society uses is the phrase “if you’re clean you have nothing to worry about… ” which implies that if you’re a law-abiding citizen you should simply accept this invasion of privacy and loss of rights they’re trying to push on you.

Imagine a future society where everything you do is monitored. Not even George Orwell in his wildest imagination could’ve dreamt up such a horrible dystopia, and it’s all thanks to corporations and politicians corrupting the beautiful internet for their own hidden agendas.

It could start innocently enough. Think about it, virtually every computer today has a webcam – either built-in or attached through a cable. What if some politicians decided that every webcam had to be monitored via a government-installed piece of software? Just to make sure that you’re a law-abiding citizen. I mean, if you’re law-abiding you have nothing to hide, right? Just install the software and we won’t suspect you of anything. If you don’t install it, then that automatically means you have something to hide, and they will decide without informing you what kind of freak you are – even though you just wanted to maintain the right to privacy.

This is why you need to vote for your local Pirate party. If there is none, you need to start one. Before it’s too late, before commercial and political interests have corrupted our society into the one I describe above.

A few days ago I read about how Germany is mulling a ban on Paintball. They feel that paintball glorifies violence and teaches children how to kill each other.

Now, I understand that killing other people is something you don’t want to encourage, but this is not the right way to go – banning things that might be vaguely similar in some kind of knee-jerk reaction to try to “fix” the problem. It won’t solve anything, and will only serve to further stamp in the popular opinion that politicians are power-mad morons who can’t see reality even if it hit them on the head.

I’m not a big pro-paintball type of guy. I’ve only played paintball once, and while it was great fun I didn’t really get hooked. It just wasn’t my type of sport or game or whatever you might call it. But I’m in some kind of shock that the German government is so blunderingly stupid that they think paintball is the cause of all evil when it comes to those horrendous school-shootings.

If we’re going to ban everything that might inspire violence, then why aren’t we banning all the militaries in the world? Or banning toy guns? Or model kits of tanks? Or super-soakers? Or heavy-metal music?

Hey, lets just force everyone to do nothing but sit in a field of flowers and listen to the sound of silence? That way no one might get inspired to kill someone else.