The Surveillance State
The June 2013 revelations of massive government spying should not really come as a surprise. Since 9/11 there has been a steady drift to more and more state power, secrecy and totalitarianism all in the name of national security. Snooping, prying, eavesdropping, call it what you want the government is doing it on a scale never before seen. Sophisticated new technologies allow for more intrusions into our private lives. Beyond the ever present cameras, there is deep data-mining, nanosecond biometric identification and drone aircraft in the skies above. The invasive monitoring of public space and the simultaneous erosion of our rights has been largely a bi-partisan affair. State surveillance power, undermining basic freedoms in the name of protecting them, is growing relentlessly. The swelling domestic databases of the NSA probably contain your personal information including emails, text messages, and phone calls. And this burgeoning Orwellian apparatus has become a cash cow for corporations such as Booz Allen Hamilton. Comedian Stephen Colbert sarcastically observes, There are bound to be casualties in the never-ending war on terror and one of them just happens to be the U.S. Constitution.
Speaker
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald broke the story in The Guardian of Washington’s widespread electronic dragnet. His exclusive interview with NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden was an international media sensation. He is the author of With Liberty and Justice for Some and No Place to Hide. He is the recipient of the Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media for his “path breaking journalistic courage and persistence in confronting conventional wisdom, official deception, and controversial issues.” He also received an Online Journalism Award for Best Commentary for his coverage of Bradley Manning. He is co-founder of the watchdog media outlet The Intercept. He writes for Substack.
clarita –
So right on! Thank you David and Glenn for your very courageous passionate work seeking and sharing the truth of the matters. Rampant self-censorship the ultimate danger. Time to wake up and act before too late, poke holes in the concrete walls of secrecy, indeed. THIS is true heroism.
John Satter –
Excellent synopsis of the last ten years in surveillance. Spot on. Something everyone should hear.
Judi Phillips –
Excellent speech!
Thank you both to David B. and Glenn for the incredible information you enlighten us with. You validate the things that I believe most of us realize is happening but can’t pinpoint or prove. Technology is slowly and insidiously necessitating control. Maybe going back to nature isn’t such a bad idea after all?
You Glenn and David are a couple of my many modern day heroes! Please keep up the Great Work!
Rich Pindell –
Will you please check on what I thought I heard early in the presentation. An Obama policy change which allowed data to be gathered on American citizens was credited to him in 2008. I don’t think I heard the speaker wrong, he said Obama policy in 2008. Obama wasn’t President until January of 2009. It was at this point you lost me and I quit listening to your talk.