Greenwaldian physics

[JDPriestly]

120. Thanks.

Seems that former STASI (East German surveillance police) are working at the STASI archives.

Some people never quit snooping.

The latest revelations also throw up uncomfortable questions for the German president, Joachim Gauck, who was the inaugural commissioner for the Stasi archives between 1990 and 2000. In his 1991 book The Stasi Files, Gauck had defended re-hiring old Stasi personnel: "We couldn't have done without their specialist knowledge of certain branches and the Stasi's archiving system." Originally hired on short-term contracts, Gauck had personally lobbied to make their jobs permanent in 1997.

Klaus Schroeder, a historian at Berlin's Free University who looked into the deployment of Stasi at the agency in 2007, told the Guardian: "Ultimately, the responsibility for giving these people uncontrolled access to high-profile files lies with Gauck."

Jahn, the current commissioner, also used his interview in Tagesspiegel to dismisses comparisons between the US National Security Agency and the Stasi: "I find it absurd to equate the NSA and the Stasi – it's a smokescreen. It doesn't help us in clearing up the current intelligence scandals, and it trivialises the work of the Stasi. They didn't just gather information but also lock up those who criticised the state. But the NSA debate has shown how important it is to raise your voice when basic human rights are being violated."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/27/stasi-officers-still-employed-east-german-secret-police-archives

The "my country right or wrong" or on DU the "my President right or wrong" mentality makes people feel very smug and self-righteous. Ignorant people with little experience are particularly susceptible to that philosophy ("my country right or wrong&quot . That is why it is very attractive to Republicans. They cannot imagine that their country could be taken over by someone or some group willing to oppress anyone who has a different religion, international friendships or family members in other countries or anyone who has ideas that simply differ from those of the group in power.

But that kind of political oppression is, over the course of history, arguably the norm. Democracy and tolerance are the exception.

That is why we cannot allow our country to amass so much information about us. It is extremely dangerous to mix this global information database and political power. Very dangerous. I can't understand how people can be so naive as to not understand the danger of it. The best theory I have come up with is that these naive people think that the situation of today, the democracy and freedom we have enjoyed until the past few years, will last forever. They do not see the temptation to grab power that is inherent in the possession of the vast database that the NSA is acquiring. It is chilling to me.

Does it take a little imagination to understand the dangers in this NSA surveillance and collection of our metadata? A tiny bit, but not much, not if you read any history at all or observe what is going on every day in areas of our planet.

I just hope that we Americans don't have to learn the lesson the East Germans learned with STASI.

Privacy is extremely important. You can't have democracy or freedom without it.