Who should we really fear?
At the beginning of this month Tablet Magazine published an article by Paul Berman in which he attempted to whistle-blow on the whistle blowers. Berman noted that Edward Snowden was warning us of a great danger, but:
as of today, nothing like that has been going on. To listen to the acclaim for Snowden and his heroism, you would imagine that, until the moment he revealed the NSA’s powers to the world, we were living under tyrannical conditions. But we were not. The NSA, pre-Snowden, possessed the ability, in principle, to look into your phone calls; even so, you were not persecuted. Big Brother evinced no interest in being Big Brother.
Berman stresses that the NSA "possessed the ability, in principle", and doesn't seem to be concerned by the Panopticon-like potential of this ability. Why watch people when they're willing to watch themselves? On the other hand, however, at least for the vast majority of the population Berman is right - Big Brother doesn't seem to be doing his job with much fervor.
Had he left things at that, it would be easy to identify with Berman. But every society apparently has to have good guys and bad guys, and if the bad guys that Snowden has identified aren't really bad, then maybe the tables should be turned. Berman writes:Edward Snowden, though—here is the despot, in my eyes. Certainly, he is the sign of despotism to come, regardless of the Republicans and the Democrats and whatever they may do. The despotism of Big Brother may come about, or not. But we have already learned that we are going to be subject to the despotism of self-righteous megalomaniacs without any official status at all—the despotism of people who feel they have a duty to reveal other people’s secrets. This will be the despotism of Very Little Brother. Snowden, for instance.
Wikileaks of late have certainly done a good job of making all of us at least a bit fearful about what might be revealed about us, but I doubt that non-governmental groups can really compete - Pantopticon-wise - with state power.
Go to: That's the best word you can find?, or
Go to: Ain't no need to hide, ain't no need to run.