Firmin DeBrabander is professor of philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. His latest book is Life after Privacy: Reclaiming Democracy in a Surveillance Society.
The push to rebuild the nation’s decrepit infrastructure is long overdue. But it isn’t enough to make our parks and public transit more functional — they must be beautiful spaces that affirm the public sphere is worthy of exaltation.
The governments and corporations that spy on us would like nothing better than for us to remain lone individuals, tasked with protecting our own data and privacy. Only collective action can secure civil liberties.