[tor-relays] Politically correct?

[torserver at datakanja.de]

Hello list members,

for simple - political - reasons, i began contributing otherwise wasted
bandwith to the tor network about half a year ago. And i am reading this
list.

Lately, there has been a discussion (Intrusion Prevention System
Software - Snort or Suricata), that brought up some opinions about tor,
more or less focused from a technical point-of-view.
Interesting to me (the noob, that i am) was the belief, that tor was ok
(as some seem to think).
I am very much less optimistic:

>From the information, i can gather on my own personal computer, i can
see, that almost every operating system sends out greetings to servers
in akamai's reach, a company that happens to have contracts with
microsoft and whatnot.
Reading about their business, i find every reason to believe, that the
time to fight for anonymity on the net is long gone, that security -
even from their perspective - needs more resources than any individual
will ever be able to have at its disposal.
Also, i am aware of the possibility to get tracked by the
telecommunication provider anytime and without me noticing it.

My conclusion has been, that i am maybe 30 years too late in my activity
to support tor - as a simple relay -. And the companies that seem to
have most control over the internet (like google, akamai, and others)
are in the process to control more and more of it, and only for that
reason are fighting against malware like viruses and bots, and of course
also fighting tor (by using honeypots as well as intrusion into the
community to get as much information as possible about the people trying
to hide in anonymity).

This seems to be so true to me, that i begin to feel _guilty of
nourishing false hopes_, that any individual could feel safe by using
tor, irrespective of where and how legitimate/needed their requests are
originating from.
Seriously, i am beginning to think, that tor may be somewhat outdated
nowadays, basically operating on old assumptions, about how the net was
organised merely a decade ago. And not taking into account the reality
of today, where our little community may not be all too useful any
longer. Hard to hide some disappointment, as i used to be a developer
many years ago, and find that no one - apart from myself - refuses to
cooperate in the process of accumulating data, which provides the basis
for semi-automated analysis later, and help some authorities to excert
power and control over the population living on this planet.

As my son very correctly said (btw: on his mobile! ;-)) : "Today, life
begins, where there is neither computer nor electricity, but meeting
with friends."
...until the earth observing satelites will be able to discern
individuals. :-(

Can anyone get me out of this pessimistic viewpoint?

If not, i am seriously reconsidering the futile attempt to engage into
offering something to the net, that could lead to unveiling users
activities opposed to what tor seems to promise.

Sorry for thinking out loud, but seriously worried about my own
simple-mindedness.
The operator of "NewTorKidOnTheBlock"