Widespread apathy and the NSA
“They are such powerful adversaries that no one can meaningfully oppose them. If they want to get you, they’ll get you in time. You don’t have to have done anything wrong, you just have to be eventually under suspicion. Then they can go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve made. They can paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.” - Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower
The individual responsible for the NSA leaks has come forward with a powerful video explaining the reason for the leak, his motives, and describes the system more in detail. His greatest worry is that nothing will change from this.
I worry about that as well. The United States Military and it’s various intelligence agencies have more surveillance power than has ever been possible in human history, and it’s only getting worse. I suspect that the unfortunate part of this is the long-term game (or lack thereof): how will we combat it?
Rand Paul recently revealed his motive to file a class-action lawsuit, but is this enough?
The United States government has many checks and balances, but it seems to be missing some on the military and intelligence agencies. I worry that this increased power is just another example of the military’s complete independence, without oversight or decree from the people it is supposed to serve.
Every day I become more disheartened by our (lack of) ability to actually change the course of federal decision-making processes in the higher echelons of government. Last night, I talked with friends at a small get together. It was depressing, as many of these very intelligent, socially and politically aware individuals were unable to feel motivated to action by the NSA leak. Many people simply didn’t want to talk about it. The tone of these conversations seemed to take a downward spiral into despair and apathy, and finally silence. It is a shame that even those normally invested in political inquiry can be dissuaded from pursuing solutions and engaging in action. Instead, they feel so powerless in our political system that they simply shrug their shoulders and drink away their sorrow.
I observe this, and wonder what we can do to funnel this apathy; what sort of structures can be created and avenues taken to address the issue of full-blown take over of our political system by fear, by military power, and industrial interests.
And then I shrug. A class action lawsuit might help, and perhaps the Supreme Court will rule against the implementation of surveillance systems like PRISM. A push towards a reduction of the military budget could start to send signals, or at least begin to take away their capabilities. Campaign finance reform could begin to make people feel more empowered by the ballot box. But these issues in themselves are difficult, complicated, and seem to have hit brick walls in the past. Even after a change in party power in 2008, we haven’t seen much check and balance against the military (the military budget has increased continuously, guantanamo is still open, and congress is unable to agree on anything).
So, what can we do? I’ll support whoever wants to combat the NSA’s practices. I fear, though, that this program will stand as another untraversable mountain by folks who are consumed by a sea of wide-spread apathy.
-K
