A few weeks ago the Hillary Clinton campaign released a tech agenda that was a bit pandering, a bit cliche but overall hopeful. It hit on some important points, such as STEM, freedom of information and security as well as government accountability and transparency. Clinton's tech agenda also looked to the future. The Donald Trump tech agenda, at the time of this writing, does not exist.
Trump's unwritten tech agenda has consisted of vague bile formed into words and confused attacks towards
The Dark Web. Trump has said that he doesn't want foreign terror organizations to "use our internet" and has suggested closing parts of the internet. Considering that the internet doesn't belong to one government and terror organizations use public forums like
In that case, the Dark Web will thrive. Something that poses a risk to society will soon become its savior, as we all head there in droves to continue the conversation, eventual dissent and then uprising. I suggest finally learning what the hell a bitcoin is.
Also See: The Facebook And NSA Paranoia Paradox
Online Gambling Sites. Donald Trump has long seen online gambling as a profitable enterprise. Online gambling is currently only legal in three states, with more considering lifting the ban. The problem is with the banks, who block the transactions to such sites.
When Overlord Trump is in office, the banks will bow before his golden throne, kiss his ring and open up transactions to anywhere. Of course, Trump will directly benefit from this as there are casinos with his name on them. States will benefit too, as new taxable income streams will open up. Of course, they'll have to pay most of that in tribute to Trump so he doesn't turn their state into a prison camp for illegal immigrants.
Android Products. Trump has not minced words in his attacks on Apple. He has called for a boycott over the tech giant's fight with the FBI earlier this year. He's been harsh towards Apple for building products overseas, something he also does with his own clothing product lines. Trump, in this case and many others, is behaving like a petulant hypocrite holo-child.
The thing is, I don't expect his war on Apple to stop when he reaches the White House. I expect one of his first orders of business will be to declare Android the official mobile operating system of America. By the time the law banning Apple devices passes, we'll all be too busy in the queue at the bread line to notice; wistfully longing for a day when the OS on our cell phones was the greatest of our worries. Up until that point however, Android products will thrive as they adapt the Trump OS "Circus Peanut" and all of our ringtones are "huge."
Smart Fence Tech. We all know Trump wants to build that big mystical wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. As Newsweek stated in this header, that wall is impractical, impolitic and impossible. That won't stop Trump from building something. Twenty-five billion dollars is a lot of money, so perhaps there is a better solution for Grand Poobah Trump.
The solution is smart fences. With zone-sensors, electric pulses that detect intruders and fiber optic detectors, smart fences are already being used in countries like Israel to protect borders. The main difference being that Israel has rockets being slung over its borders and we've generally got hardworking members of society coming across ours.
Surveillance Tech. On the Hugh Hewitt show, Trump said, "When you have the world looking at us and would like to destroy us as quickly as possible, I err on the side of security, and so that's the way it is, that's the way I've been, and some people like that, frankly, and some people don't like that." Trump supports the holding of bulk data by the NSA. It is pretty easy to predict what comes next -- a full installation of a surveillance state.
According to a CCTV survey there is one camera in the United Kingdom for every 11 citizens. While the numbers fluctuate a bit, the point is clear. Those cameras are everywhere. They are in schools, hospitals, businesses, street corners and shopping centers. There is no reason to think that Immortan Trump won't try to replicate CCTV within the United States. So who benefits from those massive government contracts? The same manufacturers benefiting from red light cameras.
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As stated recently by a swarm of technology sector leaders, Donald Trump would be a disaster for the tech industry -- not to mention the country. Be smart. If you are in tech (or otherwise), voting for Donald Trump would be like installing Serpentor in the oval office. Let's make Sgt. Slaughter proud this November.
