anti-establishment movements and the information age

[Daniel Pocock]

On 08/02/16 12:19, Mirko Boehm wrote:
> Hello, 
> 
>> On 08 Feb 2016, at 11:28, Daniel Pocock <daniel at pocock.pro> wrote:
>>
>>> We constantly reach out to political parties, attend their meetings, give
>>> workshops, talk with staffers, etc. 
>>>
>>
>> How does this group appear in relation to others?
>>
>> The main thing that caught my eye is that they are unified by an
>> emphasis on democracy, despite the fact that many of the people involved
>> have significant differences in other policy areas.  Democracy is also
>> something that is now heavily connected with digital freedom.  In
>> Richard Stallman's talk the other day, he was emphasizing software
>> freedom should be considered as fundamental as the right to public
>> assembly or the right to vote.
> 
> I agree with your argument that groups aiming at improving democracy are better served with free software. I would be rather careful with connecting Richard’s statements with the demand for democracy in the EU. Mandatory software freedom as he demands and democracy are not inherently connected.
> 

That statement could be written differently: enforced use of non-free
technology (in voting machines, in schools, in communication with public
bodies) is usually not compatible with a healthy democracy.