If there is truth--which is doubtful--in
that poll saying that 66% of Americans
don't mind being wiretapped because, gosh darnit, they're just
too law-abiding and
too uninteresting for the NSA to care about...
... here is something for them to consider.
They need to take the next step, and wonder what the NSA et al. will DO with that data they've mined.
Knowing BushCo's priorities--corporations first, the people always last--what if the following happen?
--Randi Rhodes made a joke about it on her show today: "So I don't care if I've been denied health insurance because I had a yeast infection in 1972. They're only fighting terrorists!" But the implication is no joke.
Companies could have a treasure trove of every American's health history to comb through, and rank people based on healthiness. And thereby, use such rankings to price for health insurance... or deny it altogether. (This would also be a poison pill for universal health care.)
--These same companies could also rank you, whether the employee or the job applicant, on your fitness for the company. From your healthiness, to your daily habits, to your education history, to your personality... American workers are already well-used to being profiled and probably would barely bat an eyelash at this next step.
--Educational institutions could use this data to evaluate applicants, similarly, for how successful they're likely to be at any given institution, based on past study habits, for example... circumventing the whole possibility of renewed dedication to study after years of partying hard.
Thereby, putting the kibosh on educational self-redemption. Gives a whole new meaning to college rejection letters.
--A more extreme speculation: a profile on which marriage partner would be suitable for you. Based on, for example, all those studies saying marriages are happiest when the mates share values.
You're an atheist and you fall in love with a devout believer? A Dem who (inexplicably) falls in love with a Republican? How about a macrobiotic-lover with one whose four food groups are sugar, starch, grease and beer? Nope, nope, sorry, the gubmint says as polar opposites, you cannot make it work. You'd better pick somebody who is more like you.
-- A variation on the last: a profile on which location is most suitable for you to live in. What if you're the leftiest of lefties, yet you simply cannot stand to live in San Francisco. What if, for some odd reason, you want to live in... rural Kansas? What if you love, way too much, the countryside, the wide-open spaces, the grain and cattle trade, and just maybe the chance to prove that yes, you can happily coexist with people very unlike you... or even live alone and with few close friends?...
... Too bad! (Social isolation, after all, is a health risk equal to smoking and must be prevented for your own good.)
--And, of course, the obvious: a profile of each person's political leanings and friendliness toward the government and/or majority party.
How can people think they won't be affected? Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Everyone has something to hide, be it big or small.
Anyone who wants to use this NSA database for sinister reasons, WILL make your little skeletons an issue. They WILL make your daily habits and personal preferences an issue... particularly if they aren't in agreement with the government.
Besides, why have we become the `land of the cloistered and home of the cowards'(quote)? Because of this `it can't happen to me' stuff.
We've just been given this clearest indicator of this administration's fascist aspirations we've had in 5 ½ years, and we still don't care about something that we won't think will personally happen to us.
As my blind, Republican dad says: "Don't worry about something until it happens." Folks, from here on out consider those famous last words. Last words by a person, as a free person.
No more waiting until something happens to do something about it. The time is now.