I couldn't put a number on the amount of times I have felt as though I should have been a hacker of sorts. Unfortunately, however, whilst my generation of hackers were at home teaching themselves how to read and write computer code, I was most probably out getting police chases across roof tops whilst buzzing on A-Class drugs.
As a consequence of my squandered youth, and of my reluctance to begin working towards mastering computer engineering at my age, I am now in a place where I must put my trust in others who have spent their time the way I wish I'd spent mine.
When I am able to find that trust, I also find convenience. I can't comprehend the language that provides the Steemit platform with functionality, so I cannot be sure that when I hit that "post" button, a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay doesn't get an electric shock on his testes. I am 99.9999% sure this does not happen, because I have put my trust in the developers of the code, and moreso, those who have reviewed the code and found it to be acceptable.
Nevertheless, I must admit that because I do not understand the code, I cannot be sure that it is doing what I believe it to be doing behind the scenes.
This is not a huge problem. My inability to read code is unlikely to lead to another person's suffering, supposing the Guantanamo Bay thing is not a legitimate practice. Morality, however, is a type of code that one ought not to allow another to write for them. Yet in today's society, and I suspect every major one throughout history, this is exactly what we see.
This code I refer to is known as "the law."
It matters not what part of this world you want to visit, when you arrive there, you will find yourself beholden to the law of that land. Each set of these imposed rules is sold to the people as a way to live that is just. A list of things that you should and shouldn't do-- for the good of the people, of course.
This is a major problem. Just as I feel there is little need for me to spend the time needed to learn how to write code- because I trust in the programs I am using, to the person who trusts in the law, there is little need for them to try to understand what is right and wrong for themselves.
It may seem that the problem then is the fact that the law is amoral, but I believe it is that the law exists at all. The moment we decide to let others dictate to us what is right and what is wrong, is the moment we no longer have a need to challenge our own decisions. What reason does one have to reflect when they have already been told what they're doing is exactly what they are supposed to be doing-- whether that assurance comes from the law, or from society itself.
This is why one must always write their own code, and never submit to that of another's. This includes any words you are told came from God.
If you can be honest with yourself and construct your own moral code from scratch, and then if you find at the end of that, it aligns with your Holy Book, then by all means fall to your knees and pray to your God. But, if the moral code that you can develop yourself through knowing what it is to be human, does not align with that which is said to be the word of God, then you ought to be asking yourself if it is really the word of an almighty loving being. Far more likely that it be the words of men who sought to subvert your own sense of morality in order to better the chances of you adhering to the rules of the world they wanted to create.
The take away from this is;
Think for yourself, for allowing others to do it for you will not free you from the burden of your actions.
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This is an interesting subject.
Even for a programmer, the code for almost anything worthwhile is so large and compartmentalized, that you have to rely on many others.
And, upon the law, it is interesting to note that 90% of the people follow the law, without their being a law written. So, why does a law need to be written? Mostly so that we can pass it along, and the real reason is to codify the punishment for breaking such.
Congress is an abomination. They pass complex laws by simple majority. Laws should be passed by 90%. If 90% of the people do not support them already, they are not laws.
And this is where the subject of your post comes in. That most laws are written by and for a handful of people to limit the choices of the rest of humanity. This is tyranny, but so far the docile programming in schools has held the tied back from just burning parliment to the ground.
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