Cynicism isn't knowledge. Cynicism isn't an assessment.
Cynicism is an assumption. Cynicism is emotional armor because the thought of caring again and the risk of it not panning out is more painful than not caring at all.
The only rational aspect of cynicism is that it makes you feel better. It isn't relevant about one's actual ability to change the world.
If efforts in the past didn't work to affect political change? Change what you do. Change your tactics. Clearly many groups - including ones with little-to-no-money - can and do succeed to influence policy on a regular basis.
The worst thing you can do is to convince others not to do anything about it. And right after that is to do nothing about it yourself.
When has this tactic (opting out to force change) ever worked on problems of any meaningful scale before? Please don’t say the civil rights movement, because those boycotts were not effective on their own. Pressure is required to force change, and opting out does not produce the necessary pressure unless it is genuinely a significant portion of users and lasts years.
These strategies have been tried time and time again and have proved not to be strong enough to overcome economic forces.
Why not look at almost every single interest group that has managed to influence local politics?
Ever pay attention to all those groups (private sector or otherwise) that end up influencing policy creation? Ever think of trying to get other government agencies or already-trusted organizations on your side as opposed to trying to establish yourself as a credible voice to ocotogenarians who can't tell the difference between an expert and someone blowing smoke?
Finding allies to support your policy goals doesn't need to stop at asking random people on the Internet. It's a woefully underexplored area for Internet freedom activists.
I think we agree on that. Special interest groups proactively push for things, they don't just opt out and hope people notice. I am arguing for lobbying and special interest groups (that's why I suggested the EFF as an example, although certainly not the only one).
Cynicism is an assumption. Cynicism is emotional armor because the thought of caring again and the risk of it not panning out is more painful than not caring at all.
The only rational aspect of cynicism is that it makes you feel better. It isn't relevant about one's actual ability to change the world.
If efforts in the past didn't work to affect political change? Change what you do. Change your tactics. Clearly many groups - including ones with little-to-no-money - can and do succeed to influence policy on a regular basis.
The worst thing you can do is to convince others not to do anything about it. And right after that is to do nothing about it yourself.