No Edward Snowden

What if the US government reined in on the NSA Surveillance before Snowden could come out as the romanticized "patriot" or "whistleblower"?
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
What if the US government reined in on the NSA Surveillance before Snowden could come out as the romanticized "patriot" or "whistleblower"?

He's a whistleblower in the literal meaning, no romanticization about it. Patriot is one I've not heard of.

Too early to tell; Europe is a bit less 'hmm' about America, and the idea of America as this Big Brother is more a simmering idea beneath the surface than the truth it was unmasked as. Chelsea Manning likely to still reveals the War Logs, and Wiki Leaks still points out how amoral American conduct has been.

This might belong better in Chat.
 
I really do not understand the surprise that the NSA are listening into communications given the publication of James Bamford's 'The Puzzle Palace' in 1982...I can only assume those outraged do not read books.
 
Books

I really do not understand the surprise that the NSA are listening into communications given the publication of James Bamford's 'The Puzzle Palace' in 1982...I can only assume those outraged do not read books.
Majority of people do not read books anymore, although it could seriously benefit society. During the 1980s, people were slaves of the television screen. Nowadays, people are slaves of the internet.

The surprise that the NSA were listening came from decades of sweet ignorance and trust in the government. From the Late 1940s to Early 1990s, the NSA was able to get away with what they were doing because trust was placed in the American government that Democracy would be upheld and they would be safe from Communism. In the mid-1990s, with the Collapse of the Soviet Union and other dictatorships and the establishment of more democracies, people followed George H.W. Bush's "New World Order" idea that the world was mostly free and peaceful. From 2001 to 2009, Terrorism and the thought of another 9/11 became the greatest fear and more trust was placed in the government, allowing the Patriot Act to be received so daftly. In 2011, when OBL was killed, people felt comfortable with the government and no longer feared terrorism. With nothing to fear any longer, overtime, the people would gradually lose trust in the government.
 
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