Modem Router

I’m returning the shiny new modem-router the phone company sent me and have bought a new one over the counter instead. The phone company’s modem came with a long contract that involved agreeing to all kinds of data collection. They can probably gather this anyway, but at least I don’t have to agree to it. My sons, who, I’m sure are smarter than me about such matters, say that they are already resigned to the fact that nothing we do online or offline is private anymore. My only response is that at least we should resist, even if our resistance isn’t effective. “Like Palestinians,” I say. “And where does it get them?” they respond. I suppose freedom is a state of mind. If we make choices, even when they are inconvenient, difficult or even dangerous, we grow in spirit. When we just accept the default options, we are cowed, enslaved, though we may not realise it. The awareness of our subjugation only comes when we begin to resist a system and sometimes get pushed into compromises. But small acts of resistance restore the sense of our integrity.