Liberty, Security, Safety, Privacy, Big Brother, and the Concept of the Common Good

The outrage is palpable and the sudden realization by the average American that they really, truly are now living in an Orwellian surveillance state has been an eye-opening experience for many across the fruited plain. The once mocked conspiracy theories of the all-knowing Big Brother state has shown itself to be far more of an ugly reality than a silly fantasy. He who has called the War on Terror basically over has now been forced to admit that his administration has vastly expanded the concept of the security state in the name of ‘public safety.’ The ‘trust us’ stance of government is no longer a working defense for such actions as this administration, and the federal agencies under its control, have shown that they simply cannot be trusted. Therein lies the true dilemma for the Obama administration as it seeks to calm the rising storm.

On Corruption and History

Jews and Christians see mankind inherently corrupt; a non-believer may say that the imperative for self-preservation conflicts with the social imperative. They are saying the same thing; as a species,

man is out for number one; all others are tied for last. Were that not so, man might be sleeping with the dinosaurs by now. But even here, TANSTAAFL applies; there still Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Our species gains from this attitude but it also pays a price.

Clearing the Smoke a Little

Something has been very odd in this spring’s  Foggy Bottom Theater of Scandal.  The coincidence of multiple scandals breaking through leaks and whistleblowers cannot be one.  

Neither can be yanking the chains of regular Americans by planting the seeds of doubt regarding trust in service providers, let alone government, and the revelation that an arm of our government has been used as a partisan tool of the regime in charge.

Scandal Levees Fatiguing !!

 WILL Obama Cabinet Start Sandbagging?

And now an intermezzo of relief from the Theater of Scandal:

The Government As A Jealous Girlfriend

BIG BROTHER OBAMA , THE GOVERNMENT AS A JEALOUS GIRLFRIEND

 

I actually found this fairly amusing. This administration has definitely opened itself up to mockery even though the subject matter itself is far from funny. But on the other hand, one almost have to laugh to keep oneself from sinking into chronic depression or a catatonic state as the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave’ is now evidently completely dominated and governed by people who think nothing of  building multi-billion dollar facilities devoted to spying on American citizens – and tracking and recording  every word on the internet and every thought expressed in email.

The Price Of Immorality

Contributed by Cultural Limits – The Constitution Club

Vanity of vanities all is vanity  — Ecclesiastes

It is human nature to want to be relevant.  To know that to the world we are important.  It does not matter who we are or where we live, that is a reality.

By his chosen career path, Edward Snowden demonstrated that he wanted to matter, to make a difference, and he acted on it, as all idealistic young men do.  He took action, joining the Army to make a difference and ending up as a CIA technician where he “discovered” that Americans’ rights were being violated through the wide ranging collection of the electronic data we all produce every day.

Yes, American Culture Is Different.

Why Is This a Problem?

Business Insider, an online ezine that really does have some great information for entrepreneurs and business people, has been branching out and now offers human interest pieces.  Or what they think are human interest pieces.  See, in business, for some reason, rankings and numbers on subjective scales are all the rage (it would be helpful if the data was current), and Business Insider is putting its

spin on what they think is fascinating, and hopefully helpful to Americans.

The problem, though, is that lot of the material is actually very anti-American (and based on readers’ comments, ticking off their main audience) playing to the crowd that believes that the US is just one of many countries and life here is just not as good as it is other places.