Whenever anything is proposed to "fight terrorists", it's going to be used to hurt you. Anything, every time.
If you aren’t 100% enthusiastic about letting government track your every movement, spy on all your communication, control every dollar you spend, turn rights into privileges, etc., they consider YOU the terrorist.
You are the target of these programs and this legislation or policy. If it happens to catch a real terrorist somewhere along the way, that's just the cherry on top that they'll point to when claiming success. And most of those terrorists are probably their guys in one way or another.
Government considers you the enemy, and it will show you by what it does if you're paying attention.
Imagine being gullible enough to believe government protects you and is essential for your well-being. Or to conflate government with society.
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Spot-on as usual, Kent.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of the ubiquitous surveillance is the cell phone. I happen to have been watching some "Dateline" re-runs, and in case after case the suspect's location at crime time is fixed by pings from a nearby tower. Sometimes, from three of them; that enables triangulation and so pins his place to within a dozen yards or so.
Of course, this sometimes exonerates the innocent. And of course, the data is kept by the phone company, which would never dream of releasing it without a court order; no, no. A government court, that is.
So anyone addicted to wall-to-wall texting, who never parts with his/her 21st Century electronic toy, is exposed to government scrutiny any time it cares to take a look. This is the rising generation. Was it Ayn Rand who coined the phrase "sanction of the victim"?
It has been a problem for a long time, and is only getting worse.
DeleteMaybe once Trump's Big Betrayal Bill gets passed and causes the US federal government to die, things will go in a better direction.
In the meantime: tolfa.us