I recently had a lesson in this: I received a letter stating that I owed back taxes to my locality. After 4 days and a long email chain, they admitted that they had no proof that I actually lived in the locality at the time they claimed, but that the burden of proof was on ME, not them. Thankfully, I keep ample records and was able to exonerate myself. I wished them good luck on avoiding future negligence, but I doubt it will change anything. Imagine if the tables were turned, and Germany said the US owed back taxes for land usage, adjusted for inflation, plus interest, for land usage of colonies during WWI, without any proof provided. Lois Lerner of the IRS can destroy 1 year old records without penalty, while the rest of us must keep 7 years of meticulous financials records if we wish to exonerate ourselves against tax errors. But even though she destroyed the records, those emails must have passed through a server somewhere. I expect that the corruption went much deeper than just the IRS, and she is being protected by those higher up. It is becoming ever more clear to even the people on the street that the rule of law is shattered, and different standards apply based on your lordship.

While my experience is a simple case, it bodes ominous signs of what’s to come. We live in a society where people are accused of various crimes or costs and liabilities, without any checks or burdens of proof on the accusers. When the accuser has nothing to lose and everything to gain, socially, politically, and financially, you will see more of the same. When will we live in such a society? A moot question, look around you, we’re already in it. This should be all the reason anyone needs to follow your advice of maintaining ample exculpatory records of anything and everything we’re involved in. Yes, there are cases where said exculpatory records are thrown out in courts, but it’s better than nothing. Better to be a potential liability for the courts and major corporations than a pushover.

Getting back to your post, I think the massive encroachment of the surveillance state is partially an attempt to capture and harshly punish those attempting to throw clogs in the machine. According to google, Steve recently searched “destructive console commands”, and according to his credit card records, he recently bought 8 AA batteries, marigold gloves, a plasma ball, and UV LEDs. Fred did the same thing, except with cash, but when we use footage from the store camera and our persistent facial recognition algorithm, we were able to confirm this. They were both sentenced to 8 years in a maximum security prison to set an example to all the other peons, I mean, for destroying the glorious tools of the proletariat. Of course, as I alluded to earlier, the panopticon will not be turned in on the management, unless they get any crazy ideas and try to change the system. Even if they’re a clean slate, they can always be set up, just ask Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

1/ what was stuxnet, but a clog in the machine, albeit an organised massed clogging?

2/ so when shit “goes missing” and I’m asked about it, several weeks after the event, when any hope of retroactive proofs are impossible, so I dig out my stash, find the form documenting that particular item with that particular serial number was shipped by me, and find the form from the shipping agent acknowledging receipt of that particular shipment on such and such a date and time, and all I get is a “thank you”, not a “well done, great organisational skillz”…