I’m starting to wonder what the real benefit even is anymore. Between the technofeudal landscape we live in, where billionaires own the means of communication, data is constantly mined for profit, and surveillance is baked into every layer, it feels like I’m standing at the beach, using my bare hands to push back an endless tide.
Even when I take the so‑called “liberated” path through Linux, self‑hosting, and privacy tools, it often feels futile. The web itself is poisoned. Browsers are turning into tracking engines. Sites rely on manipulation and dark patterns. Social media is full of misinformation and ragebait.
Even open-source projects are being pulled under corporate influence (ex: Firefox adoption of AI).
It feels exhausting to route around a web that’s already been captured.
So I’m asking myself: what’s the point? Why not just step away?
Why not trade the illusion of digital control for actual peace, get a dumb phone, a CD player, and check out books, movies, music, and games from the library as my entertainment?
Does anyone else feel this way? Have you found ways to reconnect with technology?
I’m the same. I was telling a friend the other day that despite how grim modern tech often is, I feel hopeful when I see how many people are taking solace in making cool things for them and their community, as well as doing valuable infrastructure work to try and make tech a useful tool for liberation.
A good example of the latter thing is this encrypted messaging app that works via a Bluetooth mesh network, providing a way for Palestinians to stay in contact even when the internet and cell service are turned off. The UK is closer than I would like to needing to use tech like this, so it bolsters my resolve to be able of such efforts to resist.