Deeply Troubling Acceleration of the Surveillance Society

As a former registered Republican who hasn’t yet decided on whom I will trust to be my elected representation in government, my conservative friends often are appalled with my emerging libertarian leanings, increasingly progressive stance on social issues, and downright dismay over my outrage at the volume of vacuum surveillance that has accelerated in the last seven years.

If you have any awareness of current affairs, the warrantless wiretapping issue is continuing to go unresolved. I don’t care about your politics, whether or not you believe that the undefined, classified, private and hidden threat of “terrorism” — one that is at the heart of the justifications for war, increased security and surveillance post-9/11, and a trillion dollars of spending — is valid or whether or not you think our current Administration is doing the right thing and can be trusted.

The fact remains that the current Administration has accelerated procedures, technologies and law breaking without much hue-and-cry (or even questioning!) from people like you. Though we don’t know to what extent the basic foundational premises of our country have already been breeched since everything is classified, what is certain is that all of these shifts will certainly be available to a future demagogue or fascist who’d gleefully  appreciate how the skids were greased over the last several years.

As noted security expert, Bruce Schneier, once said, “It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.”

Stop the Spying reached out to me today after a post I did about their efforts and those of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The video below is of people like you who’ve taken the time to participate. Again, whether you agree with them or would even consider doing it yourself, the fact remains that accepting, just going along, and not even asking the tough questions is not an option.