The Times of India reported today about the debate going on in US regarding Edward Snowden. He was a CIA’s and NSA’s employee who leaked details of the highly secretive and massive spy program PRISM. This program was designed to eavesdrop people’s electronic communications at a gigantic scale. Presumably, to “prevent terrorism”… whatever that may mean.
The really funny thing, is that this high-tech all-seeing-eye failed miserably when it came to detect Snowden. Blind and clueless… Typical government bureaucracy: expensive and useless for its primary purpose.
The article goes on by mentioning that India carries similar programs by many agencies such as the National Technical Research Organization.
It was recently reported about a similarly massive program run by GCHQ in UK.
We could go on and on but why? Is there any person on earth that still believes in government’s benevolence? That they are only spied when society’s safety is at risk? Let’s face it and call it for what it is: massive intrusion in our privacy.
We also know that high-tech companies such as Google and Facebook cooperated in US spying programs and were paid or rewarded for their efforts (you can see more info in many newspapers such as the Mail Online from UK).
As Absolute Austro-Libertarian acolytes we find all these spying games totally ludicrous and gigantically wasteful. Let’s analyze the problem. Country A wants what country B has (commodities, land, industries, whatever…). So country A spies country B to achieve this goal. But, country B knows about country A's intentions so they set-up a spying organization of their own to counter country’s A spying. Now replace “country” with any other retarded organization that want what does not belong to them and you will have a clearer picture. A few of such organizations come to mind (you can check a few examples following the respective lists):
- Terrorists (Wikipedia Terrorist List)
- Freedom Fighters (Wikipedia Freedom Fighters)
- Eco-terrorists (Wikipedia Eco-Terrorists)
- Extremist Groups (Wikipedia Extremist Groups)
- Religious Extremists (Wikipedia Religious Extremists)
And many other deluded idiots that believe that playing the spying game is necessary and fun.
All they are doing is providing justification to government spying efforts. Even if these groups would not exist, government organizations would make them up to justify their jobs. It is that simple and most people knows it. There is no reason to hide it.
From an Absolute Austro-Libertarian perspective, it is absolutely clear that all this gigantic nonsense begins and ends with governments.
The one element that all these groups have in common is that they all hate the government. Solution? Remove all governments from the equation, and you just removed all foes from these groups. No enemy, no reason to keep fighting (whatever that may mean).
But then, again, the situation is not that simple. Yes, we have also heard that one until it made us nauseous. The truth is that it actually IS that simple. But of course, all those bureaucrats doing nothing productive will lose all their jobs if they were to acknowledge this universal truth. So they lie. Anybody surprised yet? Of course not.
And of course, we can go a step further. Consider that all those massive spying programs cost billions or maybe even trillions of Euros. Does anybody seriously believe that commercial corporations - no matter their size - would agree to spend all that money for no commercial gain? Of course not! The simple reality is that spying at that level is economically prohibited. Any company attempting to do so would go instantly bankrupt. And that’s the best privacy and security assurance one can have. Simple: no money no spying.
But let’s walk one more step. Let’s assume that “out there” there is a gigantic company that is willing to spend untold quantities of money just to spy on us. What can they do with all that information? Annoy us to death with marketing? Bombard us with offers of products or services we don’t need or want? Harass us with exclusive deals and opportunities? WOW! that’s really scary. I am shaking in my canks (Turkish Traditional shoes).
Now look at the dark side of the equation. A government can do anything they want with this information simply because they can. Governments are, in practice, omnipotent. Don’t let the mirage of existing laws blind you. Governments can use this information to discredit you personally. To destroy you financially. To deport you. To incriminate you. To jail you. To torture you. To kill you.
Yes, those are the only two options. It is now up to you to choose one. Choose wisely.
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.
