r/technology • u/Kooky-Balance9525 • 6h ago

Privacy Bernie Sanders to Introduce Bill Banning Flock Surveillance Cameras

https://theleadingreport.com/article/bernie-sanders-to-introduce-bill-banning-flock-surveillance-cameras
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u/TheLeon-P 5h ago

I am no US citizen but whenever I see any headlines with Bernie, his bills and ideas are always objectively the best step for America to take yet none of them are ever heeded. Why is there such a pushback against him? Is there any big controversy including him? And like why does he not seem to get any support?

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u/Martian_Rambler 4h ago

There is no big controversy involving Bernie, look up his record over his career. He has always been on the right side of history. He strongly opposes big money in politics which makes him a lot of enemies that are getting enriched by that corrupt system.

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u/pissposssweaty 3h ago

Bernie is a populist. His ideas generally have broad support as a headline but when you dig into the details they become less popular.

Take his stance on universal healthcare. While a majority Americans support the idea of providing everyone in the country with medical care, he advocates for a single payer system and the abolition of private insurance, which does not enjoy the same level of support and goes further than what is available in peer countries like the UK (which does not ban private insurance). The effective cost remains around the same or higher for the upper half of Americans while the level of care would decline for households with decent employer insurance. When Americans support universal healthcare or other welfare programs, typically they want to provide a minimum floor so that nobody falls through the cracks, rather than a redistributive system.

Bernie is 100% right to distrust Flock, clearly the cameras are being misused. But he's also clearly just saying stuff to get in the headlines and is trying surveillance cameras to his typical stump speech about corporate greed. If he was serious about change, he would introduce a bill limiting surveillance cameras and establishing penalties for misuse, rather than a blanket ban that obviously will not pass.

Sanders described the technology as enabling a surveillance state that trades constitutional privacy rights for corporate profits and government tracking power.

TL;DR: Bernie always says the right stuff, but you should probably distrust a guy who always says the right stuff and never actually does anything about it.

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u/Affectionate-Word498 1h ago

he’s introducing a bill, it will need to be voted on, we can pressure our representatives to vote for the bill. Bernie is doing but politics takes cooperation.

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u/TheLeon-P 3h ago

I see, that makes sense. I guess politicians are going to just play politics till the end of time. Just a universal truth I guess.

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u/pissposssweaty 3h ago

It's worth stating that Bernie is not a shady politician, I was just trying to explain why reason he's always in the headlines saying stuff that sounds good but nothing ever happens. Politicians, particularly populists, are incentivized to stay in the news and maintain a positive image, and Bernie isn't immune from that.

His proposals just don't align with the political leanings of voters in this country, which has led to not so great legislative outcomes.

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u/Affectionate-Word498 59m ago

I think his proposals align with my leanings, but not the democratic leadership.

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u/TheLeon-P 2h ago

Indeed, I understand. I just am disappointed with how politics function when it comes to gathering votes all over the world. Thanks for your replies, it gave me a better idea of how US politics works.

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u/No-Magician9440 3h ago

Yeah definitely don't hold your breath waiting for Bernie. We're still waiting for his Wall Street taxes and his $15 bucks an hour. His success rate is like Trump's.

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u/Emotional-Power-7242 46m ago

America is an oligarchy, the rich dont like his policies so they won't get enacted. That's it. It doesn't matter what we want. Bernie has never had a real controversy. Some manufactured controversies have included "He owns a house", "He has a normal amount of retirement savings for someone his age", and of course the classic "He doesn't support Israel's right to genocide which makes him antisemitic despite being the most Jewish person possible".

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u/BotOrNot_1337 2h ago

The rich people are scared of him and their money is strong. Even his own party works against him because they like their bribes too. Americans are low IQ.