Authors of ‘The Second American Revolution’ share insights into reconnecting real people with politics

Fifty years ago, news reporters read from a script, pulled together by a team of investigators looking for the facts about what was going on. Today, not so much. Turn on your TV, radio, podcast, or internet browser, and you will find a mash-up of opinion and news.

For many of us, it’s hard to know where fact differs from fiction when it comes to how current events may be impacting our lives. That’s where Liberty Nation comes in. Liberty Nation was launched to provide an alternative voice, one that pays close attention to the ways current events protect and preclude our political rights and liberties afforded by the U.S. Constitution. Mark Angelides, the Managing Editor of Liberty Nation and author of the new book, The Second American Revolution: Tech Tyranny and Digital Despots, shares his take on today’s most important issues including the relationship between personal privacy and digital freedom.

What are Liberty Nations thoughts on the McKinley Impeachment Testimony?

The McKinley testimony was a bizarre Walter Mitty-type adventure. He spent the majority of his testimony explaining his various gripes with the way the State Department was being run under Rex Tillerson, whilst admitting that his bugbears had been dealt with under Pompeo. He provided no first-hand information and admitted on multiple occasions that he had no special insight into the matter at hand.

If there is evidence or suspicion of wrongdoing, then it needs to be investigated, but House Democrats seem determined to flood the narrative market with thousands of pages of testimony from people who have no direct involvement and are just giving their opinions. That’s not evidence. It’s spin. 

What are Liberty Nations thoughts on Artificial Intelligence as it relates to your new book, The Second American Revolution: Tech Tyranny? 

That all depends on the definition of intelligence. The angle we use is that of decision making capability being taken out of the hands of human operators. Everyone wants computers to work faster, technology to carry out more mundane tasks, but the issue arises when we hand over responsibility to systems that actually lack real intelligence.

“Liberty Nation writers don’t report news they explain why it matters to you.” Why is the statement considered to be a cove value at Liberty Nation? 

We’ve arrived at a crossroads in politics; when regular people hear news, it is no longer just the basic facts, it’s pre-packaged with spin and innuendo, and this is because media giants need to carve out and keep a market-share all for themselves. At Liberty Nation, we present not just the facts of an issue but highlight the wider implications that are all too often subsumed by spin and narrative. We want people to reconnect with politics because it’s the only way they can engage on a fundamental level.

What is Liberty Nation’s view on the potential impeachment of President Trump?

That all depends on if he did anything wrong. Based on the transcripts provided so far, the actual phone call transcript that the president released, it looks like there’s nothing there. It seems that since the day Donald Trump won the election, Democrats have been trying to impeach the president; first it was Russia, then it was something else, and when this impeachment inquiry either falls apart or gets dismissed by the Senate, they’ll try another route.

House Democrats have yet to provide any actual evidence of wrongdoing, but they may be damaging their party’s image in the long run. They should be working on policy, looking to either repeal outdated legislation or build up legislation that protects the constitutional rights of Americans; instead, they are spending their days looking for a smoking gun that so far doesn’t appear to exist.

What are three key facts that are critical in protecting our digital freedoms?

First, know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. All of these apps, smart devices, and so on, they are not being created out of altruism. The designers who come up with the concepts work with companies who spend millions, if not billions of dollars to get it to market; they have to have some way to recoup their costs and that usually involves selling your data.

Next, take the time to ask yourself if you are happy with that trade-off. When you send a message using an app, you are giving up a small part of your privacy, your location, and in some cases, even the message itself is stored and analyzed. You need to consider whether that’s a trade you’re willing to make.

Finally, your privacy and digital freedom should always be protected. This comes down to personal responsibility. Make smart choices in what you do and don’t rely on government regulation to put the individual’s concerns over that of the corporation.

By Mark Angelides of Liberty Nation https://www.libertynation.com