I remember the junkbuster proxy from before this stuff was done with browser extensions. Is it time for that approach to make a comeback?

DIY doesn’t necessarily mean your own network, but at minimum, all the privacy-protecting software (cryptography etc.) has to be running on hardware that you control and operate. As soon as someone else is running it for you, they become a point of failure and a place to pressure.

I’m skeptical, there are legal requirements for telcos and data retention. “Privacy as a service” beyond basic level has rarely worked as advertised. To to better, DIY.

I’m happy with Fastmail, no idea about Proton, but the Proton CEO’s antics are a bit too tech-bro for me.

Postal Diplomacy has been around longer than the internet, so why not.

switch to lichess. spend an hour or so a day on lichess.org/training .

That was called dmoz.org but I think it’s gone now.

I don’t see that as helping much, at least without creating a horrible police state. Imagine thousands or millions of James Bond villains or other mad scientists running around and finding ways to evade detection. Making the cops smarter only goes so far.

Probably not. In fact if you mean everyone gets smarter starting tomorrow but up til today we’re in the same crappy world as always, that’s probably a disaster. Yeah we have some sociopath criminals in high places, but lots more of them are in prison or doing really dumb things (there’s a tv show about them, “world’s dumbest criminals”). Now imagine they suddenly get a whole lot smarter. Everyone else also becoming smarter won’t help that much.

If you mean human evolution somehow went on a different path making all humans smarter all the way back to prehistoric times, then it’s harder to say, but it doesn’t sound so great either.

Emotional intelligence isn’t the answer either, for the same sorts of reasons. Maybe there’s a separate thing called “wisdom” but there will always be gaps.

You might like HPMOR, a Harry Potter fanfic novel that philosophizes a lot about these types of questions. It’s at hpmor.com. Warning, the main character is insufferable a lot of the time, especially near the beginning. So you might hate it, in which case feel free to quit after a few chapters.

For a more positive take, try the old school science fiction novel “Protector” by Larry Niven.

How are they going to handle online purchase of phone plans (I’ve bought several that way)? Business VOIP? Robocalls routed through other countries? Answer: it’s not about robocalls.

Joke’s on them, I only have 1gb/month of mobile data.

I am alterIng the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.

“Why are we running from the police, Dad?”

“Because they use vim, son. We use Emacs”.

Tumbolia!

Spirit duplicator or colloquially “ditto”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_duplicator

It’s been done in fiction already. https://marshallbrain.com/manna1