If you have nothing to hide…

I had one of these lunch conversations today… It actually started when one of the girls expressed her concern about the well being of the music industry. For some reason she really believed in the RIAA propaganda. So I explained to her how they actually calculate their “lost sales”. I explained how they are clinging to an outdated business model that will die within next 4-5 years. I told them that the only way for entertainment industry to make profit using it’s current model, is to stop all technological progress in the digital media. Hell, not only stop but roll back and outlaw some of the technologies we enjoy today.

It actually made them think for a bit. They just realized that there were actually 2 sides to this story. I figured that there is still hope for humanity :)

Unfortunately, I lost the thread of the conversation and somehow the topic ended up on wiretaps. Not a good topic because people tend to get really worked up when you talk about politics.

What do you say to a director when she claims “If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about” and follows it up with “People who don’t like how we do things here in US can just pack up and leave”? Sigh… This is what we call a politically induced cognitive blockage. Further discussion of the subject is pointless.

In cases like that I usually shut up, and let people sort it out themselves. The last thing I want is to have an all out political argument at the workplace :P It is very difficult to change people’s views on political matters. It’s just like trying to convince someone that their religion might be wrong about something. In both cases you need to shatter world views – otherwise the discussion wont go anywhere.

What saddens me the most though, is that the outrageous breach of constitution like the unlawful wiretapping was diminished to a minor political issue. This is something all Americans should be angry about…