It has been six years since I sent my first letter to you. At that time, Nova Scotia Power was installing new smart meters for everyone, and my question was, “Is this smart meter going to help us or hinder us?” Now, I look at my Nova Scotia Power bill and see that it has, once again, more than doubled.
My issues today are with the computers that have been developed. Over the last 40 years, these developments have been advanced. The basic services that they offered before served us, but technological development has fallen to money, control, manipulation, and divide.
I see these changes as the beginning of the final stages of humanity as we have known it to be. The computer is a tool, a tool intended to do a job for us. All tools invented by humans have the potential to be abused.
A simple paring knife can be abused. It can be used as a screwdriver or a scribing tool, but it can be a murder weapon, too.
Now, we see computers becoming more than tools: they are doing the thinking, decision-making, planning, teaching, diagnosing, and more.
We have also experienced a loss of our jobs, alongside a rising cost of living. This not only impacts humans but adds tremendous strain on the environment.
To what end and for what purpose? Why is there a big rush for more? For faster? Who are the beneficiaries of such a change over? These are some of the questions that I have. If a person is being abused by another, does that person go to the abuser for help? If computers are being used to manipulate and control our thoughts, and sabotage our systems and ways of life, why would we continue to subscribe to that kind of abuse?
So, when the power company comes with their “smart” meters, are you asking the questions? Smart for whom?
Tim Backman.
Goodwood.