Re: Short-term-results-oriented thinking
Did you know, AC, that the patriot act provides for an oversight comittee on all survellience conducted in the borders of the US?
All this stuff about abuses of power is fear mongering and an over inflated sense that the average American is worth watching. Seriously, take me for instance, I go to work, come home, play poker on the internet & pay my taxes. Why would anyone think I was a threat?
Also, lets consider the enourmous resources it would take to actually utilize what information was gained about the average Joe to implement some measure of control over him. There are far more cost effective tools that the government has at it's disposal. The USSR example that you bring up fits well here. There was so much of the resources of the state directed at control through the use of the police state that the economy became unsustainable and collapsed under the weight of the politbureau.
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