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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Invisible in a Hyperconnected World

This hyperconnected world
makes invisibility an impossibility. You can stay off the grid only if you want to pay for everything in cash and work under the table and not own property, even if it’s only your name. There’s just too much to steal. Give them a SSN, a street address, zip code, mother’s maiden name, 4 digit PIN, your first phone number, or your saliva off a discarded paper cup and they’ll use it to find out everything about you. I change all my passwords once a week, starting Friday at sunset and ending Saturday at sunset. It’s as close to a religious ritual as I observe. I keep all my money in my security mattress, which is made of metal and is fireproof and I change its password every day. No, you may not take my picture. Don’t invite me to the high school reunion. I ignore anything mail from the government. I have no pets, no spouse, no children, no extended family, no surviving kin. I commit everything important to memory, which leaves little room for anything else, but that’s ok because I’m safe, and that’s the most important attribute of all.

9 comments:

  1. It gets harder and harder to stay invisible as the poem goes on. I just figure it's like death, gonna happen eventually.

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  2. Love the wry humour in this one. True, there is no such thing as privacy any more. The mind is the most important attribute. They can never invade a mind that is determined to keep them out.:)

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  3. Anonymous5:35 PM

    Tough to stay off the grid these days, with the world getting more and more digital and connected.

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  4. More than a little true. More than a little scary.

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  5. this breeds much isolation possibly loneliness. though being under the grid, not so bad

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  6. No privacy! True enough! Very well narrated with that kind of humor Buddah! Like your style!

    Hank

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  7. when everything is under surveillance, paranoia is necessary for survival.

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