In the wake of the recent scandals involving the NSA, and
the governments hounding of both Mr. Assange and PFC Snowden, I have had to
examine my own views on personal privacy, as well as that of the governments
right to gather intelligence, before I can even decide if the reasoning behind
the opinion I hold is even consistent. This is more of a conundrum than one
would think.
In the former case, the government is spying on people and
groups; gathering data; which they then keep secret, supposedly for use in the
war on terror, or to protect our citizens. And, for the most part, people don’t
have a problem with that. But, in the latter case, some of these same people are
vehemently opposed to the government intruding upon their own privacy in the
name of that same goal. Is this even consistent? Is there a difference in the 2
programs, and how do we tell what that difference is?
I like both Snowden and Assange, mainly because they let me
know what the government is doing without my knowledge, or consent; just my
money. But, at the same time, I want my government to gather intelligence from people
who are legitimately trying to hurt us. The real problem is not in the moral
question, as much as it is in the question of who is doing the snooping, and
where does the line get drawn as to what will be done with all of the
intelligence gathered. (Although you could argue, and I’d agree, that about 99%
of calls intercepted would be very boring. Just listen sometime to the
conversations people have at the grocery store, etc.)
I have no real answers to this question. It all boils down
to whether or not you trust the government to do the right thing with the
information they gather. So far, no one is knocking on our doors late at night
to “question” us about any particular phone call, and I haven’t noticed any
black helicopters hovering about, but it still makes a person feel a bit uneasy
to know that you’re being monitored in some sort of way.
It hasn’t stopped anyone from writing down their opposition
to the programs, but you have to wonder if someday what you write will be
thrust in your face as part of a “re-education” program. Just as the potential
for good is present in the NSA programs which monitor suspected terrorists, the
same potential for misuse does exist and, as such, bears watching. So far, my
money is on our government to use the intelligence they gather to protect us
from harm. Only time will tell if these programs are being used for other, less
noble, purposes.
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