Regarding the NSA and levels of outrage...

[OneGrassRoot]

tk2kewl's post -- and my nonchalant comment in the wee hours of the morning to which many have taken exception -- prompt this OP.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023370930


I responded nonchalantly (mainly to echo the profanity, which I thoroughly enjoy ) to tk2kewl's post hours ago, before most others were awake, and used the phrase "first-world problem" said mainly in jest, but it does still resonate to a certain degree.

Many of you are FURIOUS when others don't share or express your particular level of anger about this issue.

Yes, the surveillance state and other intrusions SUCK. I can't speak for others (though I have a feeling I am), but I don't engage in the plethora of NSA posts here -- not because I'm NOT outraged and not because I am NOT paying attention to what we can do to change it.

I AM outraged and I AM angry.

HOWEVER..............

In the OP in question, it was taking place at Disney. Yes, Big $$, and no one loathes the corporatocracy more than I.

While the image of photo ID invasion taking place at Disney was in my mind, it contrasted with what I think of every single day every time I see the (understandable) outrage about email and other privacy invasion:

Every day I can't get the image of the profiling and discrimination and often abuse that happens to every single person of color when they simply walk out of their door every day just going to work, or trying to find work. (And a vacation? WTF is that?!)

Or the profiling and discrimination and abuse that happens to homeless persons every fucking day.

Or the myriad direct forms of abuse and injustice that many citizens experience every single day simply in a quest to fucking survive.

So for those of you who are furious when others don't seem to share and express the same level of outrage about the NSA as you want, maybe you can consider that we ARE outraged, but our outrage is distributed throughout a wide array of issues.

Flame away.

[randome]

1. 'Protect our precious metadata!' sounds like an embarrassing battle cry to me.

'Stop dictating women's health issues!' sounds better. Or 'Stop the fucking sequester already!'.

There are people dying and being made miserable because of our politicians. I can't get outraged over this metadata crap, either.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Personally, I don't blame anyone for the outrage about this issue...

I'm just trying to express the viewpoint that there are so many things to be outraged about -- things that are affecting millions of us RIGHT NOW in a quest to literally survive -- that being angry with me or anyone else who doesn't express the same level of outrage as they about this ONE ISSUE is something to perhaps keep in mind.

Or not.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Excellent point

IMHO, for many of us, they "spying" has been a multi-century ordeal, since being dragged kicking and screaming on slave ships from our homeland and branded with hot irons to literally keep track of who we were and who we belonged to. This nation was founded by wealthy, land-owning white men who, although feeling some pressure now due to national demographics changes (having gone through similar in the south before the Civil War), will still make every effort to "get theirs".

The generic "right to privacy" assault nationwide was accelerated under Raygun when Ed Meese went rogue and has gotten worse ever since, as the 1st amendment and 2nd amendment took precedence in importance. And so we are finally getting around to the 4th, but are wasting time pummeling the wrong folks about it.

[Pholus]

4. That's why YMMV.

I was outraged by the privacy invasion initially, but I think I am getting more nuanced. I am realizing how much of a big old corporate welfare program NSA surveillance is. And instead of just dumping toxic chemicals, the turds they produce simply feed the destruction of our ability to set things right (as per the HBGary slides, which talk about shutting activism down).

Time after time, the best kind of waste and profiteering occurs when it's all secret.

You know, kind of like that CIA guy Lady that is being discussed in other threads today. Certainly, he kept his mouth shut and so is in our good graces but when I find out the Italians tracked him by a trail of "five-star-hotel and restaurant bills" I kind of get pissed. Seriously, a series of "three-star hotels and restaurants" would probably be slightly lower profile. And infinitely cheaper to boot.

That money is spent with a minimum of oversight in a black budget at a time when we keep talking about "reducing entitlements" like the social security fund my parents paid into for almost 50 years.

So that hits people in my life "just trying to survive."

I'm hardly outraged about the NSA by itself, it's the whole interwoven situation.

[railsback]

5. Outrage would be better served directed at getting more seats in 2014

Instead, its being redirected at keeping the GOP entrenched.