Surveillance comes home to bite. Id like to know what you think. I dont know about you, but my use of the Internet could very well be constrained by fear of being inadvertently swept into some anti-terrorist action, simply for what I say or write. There, just writing terrorist, I probably set in motion a half-dozen large servers, all racing to retrieve everything Ive written or uttered via the Internet and phone lines in the last three years. I catch myself communicating more carefully what I write, and with whom. My First and Fourth Amendment rights have effectively been trashed. Case in point: I have a dear Australian friend whose well-being is of concern to me. Having seen how our own (American) anti-terrorist operations often go awry, harming reputationally and physically innocent residents, Im worried for him on two counts. One, if the Australian Governments propaganda is to be believed, and terrorist termites have infested the entire nation, Australians could be harmed by embedded terrorists. Two, if the Australian anti-terrorist authorities are as clumsy as those in the USA and Europe, its activities could result in Australians being harmed by the Government. My concern is potentially dangerous. If I contacted him to ask about his situation, if he feels threatened by I____ or whether _____s are capable of stirring crazy, atavistic fear among Australians as they do among us brave Americans, we might suddenly find ourselves objects of interest, collateral damage for exercising our rights per our respective constitutions. Do you find yourself more cautious communicating online, by mail, or over the phone? My coping mechanism is to throw caution to the winds, but where do we go from there? Whats your coping mechanism, or do you just accept continuous caution -- self-monitoring, even fear -- as conditions of living in this great land, in this wonderful 21st Century?
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 20:32:11 +0000
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