We’ve got the surveillance state we wanted
The moral outrage about the NSA comes too late
In the aftermath of the leaked NSA-files, obtained by Edward Snowden, Western civilians suddenly are concerned with violations of privacy and civil liberties by the American government. President Barack Obama, until recently a hero of most liberal European countries, literally likes to watch over us, our emails and our mobile phones.
The moral outrage, shared by the public on Twitter, Facebook and in other media outlets, is a perfect demonstration of selective amnesia, therefor toe-curling hypocritical and merely a recognition of the mindblowing indifference that Western society has shown since the attacks on the World Trade Centre.
It’s us who are responsible for the development of the surveillance apparatus in the aftermath of 9/11. We accepted, in the name of the War on Terror, that polticians in nearly all western countries implemented laws that restricted personal liberties. We thought is was alright for justice to harden, because we thought it was the only way to fight the islamic waves of terrorism.
Afraid we were, after bombings in Londen, Bali and Madrid. We truely believed a prophet with a turban and a wick could explode. The waves of militant terrorism felt uncontrollable; men with beards and djellabas could strike anywhere. Civilians snitched on them while simply commuting in trains and busses. Law-enforcement agencies arrested innocent ‘Arab looking figures’ walking the streets — just to be sure.
Every measure was accepted to regain some safety in our supposedly dislocated society. Control was key, and we would give anything to get it back. Anti-terrorism-laws like the Patriot Act were accepted without protests — at least, I didn’t see or hear them.
Now, giving fingerprints for identification is every day routine, we think biometrics in identity cards are fancy technological gadgets, developed in our best interests. We tell ourselves that the multiple camera’s populating our streets create safety, as well as the countless police officers cruising our blocks. On the airfield we cue in long lines holding up our hands: ‘Take off your belt, sir. Yes. Your shoes too.’ Human rights belong only to people of our own group; ten years have passed and still there are 164 ‘terrorists’ detained in Guantanamo Bay, without any form of legal charges or civil rights.
‘Take off your belt, sir. Yes. Your shoes too.’
To stop terrorists from exploding we have easily given up hard-fought personal liberties to powers which by nature can’t handle such responsibilities. Read Tim Weiners Enemies: A history of the FBI, and you know that the biggest wimp is a potential target and that extreme measures will be used by governments to get the information they think they need. Their goal is always the same: hold control over society by surveilling its citizens. And their input will focus on those civilians who are most critical.
Give agencies like the CIA one finger and they will investigate your entire existence.That’s what they do, it’s their raison d’être; sift through your lives within the loopholes of the law. And of course, they will put their most obtrusive methods near the obscure fringes of these loopholes.
That is why it’s incredible naive that we willingly gave up liberties for anti-terror-laws. And that is why its appalling to observe the hypocrisy of all those critical minds that have kept their mouths shut for a decade, and now point their fingers at the Obama-administration.
You reap what you sow, simple farmers would say. We have sown so thoroughly, it will take years before we regain some of our liberties. But in the end we managed to get rid of our fears for islamic terrorism. Sadly, now we are terrified for an Orwellian monster, created to contain those initial fears.
