Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

"Don't be evil."
— Paul Buchheit, no longer with Google

Ever since 1998, I've used Google's search algorithms. In the past, Google made a good product. Paul Buchheit, who coined their famous motto and brought it to Sergei Brin and Larry Page for adoption, also wrote their Gmail programme and their AdSense software. Not only is Buchheit no longer with the company, Google is no longer interested in the slogan " Don't be evil" according to news sources.

On my recent trip into the West (including my favourite part, the Free Mountain West), I was using my cell phone (an Android) which came with Google Maps installed. My first leg was Dayton to Denver, in one day of driving, with a lengthy stop for breakfast in Lawrence, Kansas (roughly halfway through the journey) to meet with my best friend in the world and her daughter. Everything went well and I arrived, late in the evening, at a friend's home near Denver. Slept like a log, got up, did about 90 minutes work on a crypto project, and got on the road to Bedrock, Colorado.

The town of Bedrock is in the Paradox Valley. It was named Bedrock in 1881, has its own post office, and was so named because its general store was buit on Bedrock. The wise man built upon the rock, and the winds blew, the floods came, and the house stands yet. That general store is still there and is owned and operated by my friends Sarah and Anthony Pisano. A great family.

My trip went on to Las Vegas for FreedomFest and AnarchoVegas. You can look at my RWaysResilient account on Twitter for my live tweet of AnarchoVegas. I was there representing the Science of Society Foundation that was founded in the 1950s by author, engineer, propeller designer, and entrepreneur Spencer Heath.

Then it was on to Rancho Palos Verdes in California to meet Science of Society principals Alvin Lowi and Spencer Heath MacCallum, the grandson of Spencer Heath and a great friend of mine. Both were suprisingly fit given their advanced ages. Then up to San Gabriel, California to meet with my brother in spirit, Chris Boehr for supper. On back toward Bedrock, I stopped overnight in Primm, Nevada to avoid giving any more money to California's gooferment than I had.

Push Updates

That's when my phone did something I never like. It automatically updated the apps on my phone, including Google Maps. I don't like this feature of apps and operating systems because I don't like having to learn a new user interface. It seems to never have occurred to any of the big tech companies nor to any of their software designers that people simply want to use apps that already work and don't want to have new features, shifted menus, and the confusion of learning new things.

I stopped using Microsoft Windows when it updated itself one time in the very first years of this century. That was on a laptop that was purchased for me to use on business trips for a project to build a free port on the Gulf of Aden. After that update, I moved firmly to Linux and remain a devotee of open source operating systems, and open source software in all things.

Monitors

The update had the following functional change: In addition to showing the posted speed limit for the road on which I was driving, Google Maps now displayed my velocity in a small box next to the speed limit sign on-screen. It also added another annoying feature, which was to notify me in huge letters if the data connection was lost, leave that message up most of the time, and only occasionally for a very few seconds, show me the next turn in my journey.

Again, had the software engineers any sense at all, they would have put the "Data Connection Lost" message up for a few seconds and kept the useful information about where and when to turn next displayed for most of the time, because users would be less interested in the connectivity situation. But Google no longer cares what anyone who uses their software experiences, I believe, and actively hates its own user community.

How did it get that way? What is the reason for the contemptuous attitude shown by Google? I believe it got that way by selling data on all its users to the national government of the United States, and to other governments around the globe. Google got that way, I believe, by working actively with the national government of China to track and monitor all Chinese subjects of the mainland, to thwart all efforts at freedom, to hurt as many people as possible, and to help the Chinese government do to protestors in Hong Kong what it has already done to about 78 million of the Falun Gong they arrested in the first part of this century: carve them up for organs. I believe that Eric Schmidt and the other senior executives of Google are personally and deliberately complicit in all actions and policies by national and super-national governments to harm individual liberty, enslave masses of people, and exterminate several billion through their work in supporting those governments with data on the people of this world. You are free to believe whatever you wish to believe.

So What?

So what if Google Maps is taking note of my ground speed and recording it? So what if they display it next to the speed limit? So what if they make it show up in red numerals if I am over the speed limit? Well, it is simply this fact that Google has been selling data to governments, showing contempt for its users, and subverting individual liberty. Google is, I believe, going to sell the data about who has been speeding, where, and by how much, to state and regional governments. Why? So they can make more money. How? By sharing the data, I believe Google will be given a part of the funds collected by state and local and county police officials through tickets issued to "speeders" based on the data. Millions of Americans will receive speeding tickets, in the mail, or will be stopped by the violent and despicable police who patrol the highways seeking revenues. Google will profit, you will suffer, I believe.

Google may deny having any such intention, but since they are evil despicable scum who hate humanity and want to prevent freedom of speech, censor Youtube channels, censor your access to news from independent media, and are in all other ways pro-war, anti-freedom, pro-slavery, and disgusting, in my opinion and direct personal experiences of them, I won't ever believe what Google says in its defence, because they are in fact, now, today, evil.

Alternatives

What choice do you have? I strongly suggest DuckDuckGo as an alternative search engine. DuckDuckGo does not track your history of searches and cannot sell your search history to government agencies.

In place of Youtube, I have heard really great things about BitChute.

In place of Google Maps, I have heard really great things about Waze which does a great job of helping its user community keep track of speed traps.

These are a few alternatives. There are more.

Over the next few years, I will be migrating everything I do away from Google. Some of the choices taken in 2017 make for some difficulties in transitioning, since Google Suite provides some services I've chosen to use. Nevertheless, even at considerable cost in data, convenience, and income from business contacts, I want to get away Google.

I favour Ludwing von Mises's motto: Give nothing to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.

The fascist filth at Google have, in my opinion, gone too far. I'm going elsewhere. They can go to perdition.

 

Jim Davidson follows the teachings of Jesus and the traditions of George Fox as one of those "people known as Quakers." He lives and works in Dayton, Ohio and is looking to build a home in the Free Mountain West. In 2016, Jim became committed to free the slaves, stop the wars, and end the state as an abolitionist. He is an entrepreneur, founder of groups and projects, mutual aid enthusiast, actor, dancer, and author. You can find him online.