[IP] more on Who they are spying on
Begin forwarded message:
From: Gene Spafford <spaf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 9, 2006 9:25:41 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Who they are spying on
From: h_bray@xxxxxxxxx
Date: June 9, 2006 4:35:24 PM EDT
I'm tempted to pack it in. It appears that a substantial
percentage of the
members of this list quite sincerely believe that we're in no danger.
No, I think you are misinterpreting the response. Many of us not
only believe there is a danger, but know it. However, it is also
the case that many of us believe that unchecked surveillance by the
government is ALSO a threat. The question is one of balance --
which threat is worse to our fundamental values and way of life?
Some believe the threat of terrorists to be a greater threat than
government snooping. Some don't. Some believe that photographers of
naked people, homosexuals, an occasional flag burner, Jews, blacks,
Mexicans and Democrats are all threats to the US and justify
monitoring to identify and expose them. Hopefully, the majority of
people do not believe the same.
Don't be quick to dismiss that as sophistry -- we have already seen
that many in the Senate and House believe it is more important to try
to amend the Constitution restricting or punishing some of those
people than it is to investigate whether there has been improper
surveillance by the government. Clearly, they think those are
significant threats to our way of life. Not all of us agree.
Again, it is a question of balancing risks and values.
In
essence, they want the US government to do little or nothing about
Islamist
terrorism. And with those who think this way, there's really not
much to
talk about.
It is not a binary issue around surveillance -- it is around
oversight, and scope. I imagine that the vast majority of people
want to do something about Islamic terrorists. However, *what* they
want done, and *how much* they are willing to sacrifice, those are
key issues.
You appear to have made some judgments whereby you value government
claims of your safety (and of the safety of your personal
information) to be sufficient to surrender some of your civil and
legal rights in exchange. You are certainly welcome to make that
decision. However, you shouldn't be surprised that not everyone
agrees with that position, and that there are many who do not want
that decision imposed on them.
You might stay, but many of us would choose to walk away from Omelas
(cf. <http://www.cbe.wwu.edu/dunn/rprnts.omelas.pdf>).
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