I think this is good for Nacin. He's helped lead on of the most popular open source projects on the Internet for years and a well-paid (am I being too optimistic?) job which comes with a bit of autonomy, opportunity for mastery, and a sense of purpose is definitely well deserved.
However, I do empathize a lot of the sentiments in the hidden-by-downvote comments on this thread.
Although Nacin will probably never directly support any of the government agencies responsible for torture, drone-murdering innocent civilians in other countries, or the unprecedented surveillance state that has emerged in the wake of the terrorist attacks 14 years ago, he has still willingly become a cog in the machine of the US government.
Whether he manipulates his environment or gets manipulated by it remains to be seen. Hopefully, he is able to do more than make sure the US government's human-rights-violating machines remain well-greased.
For those who are concerned: From my limited interaction with him, I got more of a Jedi vibe than Sith side, if you catch my drift.
I don't understand this perspective of if you're willing to work for the government you're joining the dark side. If you aren't willing to work freely to make your own government better, what good are you as a citizen? He's willingly started a new job to try to improve people's lives. You want to make the government better? You have two major options, voting and joining the government and actually taking responsibility for some tiny piece of it.
> If you aren't willing to work freely to make your own government better, what good are you as a citizen?
Agreed. That's why I applaud Nacin; I believe he is someone who has enough strength of character to help move the US government towards a better good:evil balance.
> He's willingly started a new job to try to improve people's lives.
Agreed.
> You want to make the government better? You have two major options, voting and joining the government and actually taking responsibility for some tiny piece of it.
Well, they took my voting right away (which means it's not really a right, it's a temporary privilege). :P
No; I'm going to take the path less traveled. I'm going to try and improve everyone's lives, regardless of where they live. Borders be damned. Ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality... none of these things matter at all.
American or not, we're all human.
If I ever help any government, it will be on a city level, not a nation-state level. Which is probably closer to what Andrew Nacin is doing now.
If you don't like that answer, simply walk your own path in life. This is mine.
Heh. That sounds like a very typical christian American answer.
I say the federal government is more evil than good. I point to its atrocities and overwhelming apathy towards its own atrocities, while at the same time being wholly insecure about the whole ordeal and classifying everything it can. Why do they have so much to hide if they haven't done anything wrong? :]
I believe the problems are more cultural than just a few bad apples in power.
America will be a lot better off when it returns to being truer to the Constitution, while it is a flawed document, on which our government was founded. We're still moving further away from this; though the rate does ebb regularly. Gay marriage is almost ubiquitous, yet the right to privacy that was interpreted by our judiciary to be implied by the fourth amendment shrinks every year.
If anyone hopes to make change, they can start by actually making sure their local judges are competent and suited for the job. Even if this means running against them in local elections.
However, I do empathize a lot of the sentiments in the hidden-by-downvote comments on this thread.
Although Nacin will probably never directly support any of the government agencies responsible for torture, drone-murdering innocent civilians in other countries, or the unprecedented surveillance state that has emerged in the wake of the terrorist attacks 14 years ago, he has still willingly become a cog in the machine of the US government.
Whether he manipulates his environment or gets manipulated by it remains to be seen. Hopefully, he is able to do more than make sure the US government's human-rights-violating machines remain well-greased.
For those who are concerned: From my limited interaction with him, I got more of a Jedi vibe than Sith side, if you catch my drift.