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Wow, how precious, someone who believes in the system! It suppresses dissent subconsciously. You start censoring yourself. If you think there is a shred of huma
by EC1 11y ago
Wow, how precious, someone who believes in the system! It suppresses dissent subconsciously. You start censoring yourself. If you think there is a shred of humanity within any of the NSA or any of the alphabet boys, you're in for a ride.
- mikeash 11y agoI don't believe in the system, I just don't see how the NSA's program suppresses dissent. There's no punishment for dissent, so how would it be suppressed? I'm sure they can and do listen in on people who want to overturn Citizens United or replace the government with a monarchy or whatever, but if there's no punishment that follows, then how does anything get suppressed?
- dublinben 11y ago>There's no punishment for dissent, so how would it be suppressed? Surely you're joking. The United States government is eager to punish dissent to a lethal degree.[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki
- mikeash 11y agoFirst, I assumed "suppressing dissent" meant domestic dissent. Second, planning terror attacks is not "dissent." I mean, if this guy is your poster boy for the goals of NSA surveillance, then you're arguing that it is about fighting terrorism.
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoYou think he was punished for dissent? He was punished for actively working to kill people. That's a bit beyond merely "dissent".
- tomlongson 11y agoWhile not directly connected to the NSA, it's plausible the prosecution of Aaron Swartz amounted to suppressing dissent. It's hard to say what the root cause was prosecutorial overreach or a real effort to suppress a powerful political organizer. Either way, he became a target for his ideas and activism.