>Isn't that just showing that repression is orthogonal to ability to track people?
No, it just shows that you can repress even with less ability to track people (a fact nobody doubted. The Romans could repress people too and they didn't have mass surveillance).
It, however, absolutely doesn't refute the point that with more ability to track people you can repress more, more effectively, and in novel ways.
>Elect trustworthy people first.
Popular pressure (and even ocassional popular revolt), separation of powers, and various established checks and balances are there precisely so you don't have to depend on electing trustworthy people.
Of course if we could somehow magically only be electing trustworthy people, we wouldn't need to have this discussion (or have these problems).
No, it just shows that you can repress even with less ability to track people (a fact nobody doubted. The Romans could repress people too and they didn't have mass surveillance).
It, however, absolutely doesn't refute the point that with more ability to track people you can repress more, more effectively, and in novel ways.
>Elect trustworthy people first.
Popular pressure (and even ocassional popular revolt), separation of powers, and various established checks and balances are there precisely so you don't have to depend on electing trustworthy people.
Of course if we could somehow magically only be electing trustworthy people, we wouldn't need to have this discussion (or have these problems).