"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, — and all it wants, — is the liberty of appearing. The sun needs no inscription to distinguish him from darkness..."
Thomas Paine, 1791 from "The Rights of Man" as quoted in WikiQuotes
For those of you who aren't reading the Guardian this week, the story of your lifetime is being broken right now: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files. Why this particular story is so important will be revealed as the story continues to break truths about the NSA's surveillance capacity. Thomas Drake's piece is the most poignant and informed read on the crisis thus far at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/12/snowden-surveillance-subverting-constitution . I will recap the big picture now and fill in the details as time goes by:
(1) Threatened by the wealth and distribution of information available to its own middle class (as developed in the Clinton Era), the ruling elite in the United States created a "War on Terror" not just to create greater profits for its mega-corporations but to subdue, terrorize, infantilize and brainwash America's educated classes.
(2) But some fought back. This was expected.
(3) To provide ever greater control and weaponry against its own educated classes (e.g. to stop "democracy" from interfering with their profits and political control), the most advanced surveillance and mind control technologies have been developed (under the guise of the "War on Terror") to impoverish, terrorize, and control us.
In the coming days, we will begin to realize the depth of the surveillance and control infrastructure that has been developed to subdue us (and the rest of the world too...but there was never anything novel about that insight...). We will begin to realize that the fundamental target of the contrived and planned "War on Terror" is the American middle class. By this realization, brothers and sisters, shall we know our enemy.
Edward Snowden is the prophet. Men like Thomas Drake have come before him. By their words, you shall know what it means to be free and the nightmare of the last decade shall be undone.
