My friend likes to complain about the NSA spying on us (himself included)

[KurtNYC]

32. With all the focus on the leaker I have been thinking: Wouldn't a true narcissist WANT to be

spied on?

In companion to that, many have argued that 'if you have nothing to hide then what is the big deal?' That argument ignores the real problem with giving this kind of power to secret government and corporate entities. Sure, most of us lead fairly unremarkable lives and spying on us is at best a waste of time and money but this idea that it is about each of us as individuals is somewhat narcissistic.

The real vulnerability and problem with this kind of power is that can/will/is being used against elected officials, judges and small businesses. Whether one believe Russ Tice or not, I think he has hit on the biggest threat to democracy and to how we are cleaving into 2 classes:

"The abuse is rampant and everyone is pretending that it's never happened, and it couldn't happen. ... I know [there was abuse] because I had my hands on the papers for these sorts of things: They went after high-ranking military officers; they went after members of congress — Senate and the House — especially on the intelligence committees and the armed services committees, lawyers, law firms, judges, State Department officials, part of the White House, multinational companies, financial firms, NGOs, civil rights groups ..."

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-nsa-spied-on-barack-obama-2004-russ-tice-2013-6#ixzz2YaQj2T1G