Surveillance state is all about $$, it's an evolving industry where people have figured out how to make billions. I share the same doubts with OP here, they are

Surveillance state is all about $$, it's an evolving industry where people have figured out how to make billions. I share the same doubts with OP here, they aren't as much of a Big Brother as they are just a bloated cash cow scraping by & keeping appearances. They aren't particularly competent primarily because they don't really care as much as we think they do. Obviously it's still a terrible situation to setup this infrastructure given the potential for abuse, so I'm not defending it. I'm just saying I've been an American long enough to know $$ is at the heart of this, not control, and the $$ they're getting isn't dependent on how good of a job they do so don't expect a well oiled machined.