The Philosopher of Surveillance: ARE YOU THE SOCRATES of the National Security Agency?
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/08/11/surveillance-philosopher-nsa/
That was the question the NSA asked its workforce in a memo soliciting applications for an in-house ethicist who would write a philosophically minded column about signals intelligence. The column, which would be posted on a classified network at the NSA, should be absorbing and original, the memo said, asking applicants to submit a sample to show they had what it takes to be the “Socrates of SIGINT.”
In 2012, the column was given to an analyst in the Signals Intelligence Directorate who wrote that initially he opposed the government watching everyone but came around to total surveillance after a polygraph exam did not go well. In a turn of events that was half-Sartre and half-Blade Runner, he explained that he was sure he failed the polygraph because the examiner did not know enough about his life to understand why at times the needle jumped.
“One of the many thoughts that continually went through my mind was that if I had to reveal part of my personal life to my employer, I’d really rather reveal all of it,” he wrote. “Partial revelation, such as the fact that answering question X made my pulse quicken, led to misunderstandings.”
He was fully aware of his statement’s implications.
“I found myself wishing that my life would be constantly and completely monitored,” he continued. “It might seem odd that a self-professed libertarian would wish an Orwellian dystopia on himself, but here was my rationale: If people knew a few things about me, I might seem suspicious. But if people knew everything about me, they’d see they had nothing to fear. This is the attitude I have brought to SIGINT work since then.”
SO, ONE DELUSIONAL AND NEUROTIC SUFFERER OF PSTD GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO THE ALL-SEEING, ALL-FORGIVING, ALL-UNDERSTANDING NANNY STATE?
DOESN'T HE UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE THEORY OF AN ALL-SEEING GOD, BENEVOLENT, WISE AND FORGIVING, AND THE MAFIA-ORGANIZED NATION STATES OF TODAY?
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