Snowden to Seek Russian Protection From Death Threats – Lawyer

[JDPriestly]

62. But most of them have a political point of view.

That is dangerous, regardless of what their views are. To have that much control over the personal information about us all in the hands of people with political views and judgments, people who most likely hire people who think and believe as they do will lead to trouble. It has happened before. It will happen again, probably here.

Democracy and the openness, change and evolution that make democracy work require a certain neutrality and vulnerability in the seats of social power. This NSA surveillance, I predict, will lead to the seating of a political view and very possibly, worst of all, political fanaticism in the highest levels of social power which will be those who control the information about the personal lives of the citizens of the world.

That is why I am so opposed to this sort of control of social information. And that is what the NSA is creating. A means to achieve social control of information, that is the information about our connections to the world around us.

With GPS capability, the NSA can even determine who goes out in the woods to look at the stars at night. It can determine who goes to what church or social club. It can focus on one person or on groups. The information that this data can provide can be used to intimidate people not just through obvious violence but through the dissemination of the personal data. How much of your personal information do you want your employer or your mortgage company or your friends or family to know? How much of it would you like to have published in the newspaper? Most people at least tell white lies? Did you talk to so-and-so about your political opinions? Maybe you have forgotten, but your phone and other electronic data hasn't.

I know this sounds crazy, but I recall working for a phone company way back when long distance calls were specifically billed. That's what they are calling metadata. When I looked at phone bills and talked to customers who weren't paying their bills, I would often see how many times a week a young woman called her mother or her boy friend. It was very easy to see the patterns in people's lives. Translate that kind of knowledge into the political arena. With today's technology the possibilities are endless.

I don't know if it is true, but the whistleblower named Tice has stated that in 2004, the NSA placed phones connected with Obama including perhaps his wife and others under surveillance. Assuming that is true, there is no explanation for that kind of surveillance other than political interference.

This NSA surveillance scheme is a dangerous abomination for our country.

In addition to all the other problems with it, it places huge amounts of information in the hands of the executive branch that are not available to citizens or to the other two branches of government. That in itself is contrary to the Constitution. The executive branch is supposed to just execute the laws. Our Founding Fathers did not intend for our nation to become involved in foreign wars or have a standing military. Unfortunately, we have not been governed as they intended partly because the world has changed and transportation has made long distances seem shorter. We are more vulnerable to foreign attacks. With the information glut that it has gobbled up, the executive branch has the capacity to claim a very dominant role in our government. We all like Obama, but what happens when we get a different president, a Christie or a Ryan for example?

I think a lot of liberals do not understand just what a threat the use of technology to place the entire nation or even world under surveillance really is. I accredit to lack of experience in life and a fear of looking at the potential results of what is going on. Lots of people have trouble thinking logically about causes and effects.