U.S. Abuses Of Privacy Pale In Comparison To Third World Dictatorships

The cover story of the 6/15/2013 issue of The Economist asks “Have America’s intelligence agencies gone too far?”

This magazine is published in Great Britain.

It is often claimed, per capita, that the island nation has one of the highest concentrations of security cameras on earth.

It is also interesting that Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor bringing the issue of government Internet surveillance into a broader public awareness, sought refuge in a jurisdiction ruled by Red China.

Aren’t these Communist and former Communist regimes the last ones that should feign shock and outrage at American abuses of privacy?

In the United States, the government might track where you go online and with whom you are communicating. However, unlike in Communist China, the government for the most part does not determine what public information resources you will be allowed to consult.

And, unlike in Putin’s Russia, in America there are very few instances of critics mysteriously disappearing, never to be seen again or their bodies uncovered having expired under questionable circumstances.

by Frederick Meekins