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And yet here in the US where there is similar, the NSA is viewed as a refuge for the "best and brightest" and "most patriotic". People nod approvingly when they
by cryoshon 11y ago
And yet here in the US where there is similar, the NSA is viewed as a refuge for the "best and brightest" and "most patriotic". People nod approvingly when they learn someone works at the NSA, even in light of the disclosures.
Who has the courage to shame these people to their face for collaborating in our oppression? It's easy to wax poetic and spit fire on the internet, but it's much harder to actually shun someone standing in front of you.
- bufordsharkley 11y agoReally? In my circles, anyone working for Palantir (much less the NSA itself) is considered disgusting.
- branchless 11y agoI'd imagine many working on this won't tell you their real job. For example when you apply for MI5 stuff in the UK you cannot tell people your actual job. God knows how many there are doing these jobs.
- coroxout 11y agoIt helps that British geeks love James Bond and Alan Turing, and at GCHQ they get to play at being both - although you'd have to hope some of them have wondered if this time round they might not be the unequivocal good guys. Also, if you get a reputation for hiring the brightest and best, you also get people who've spent so long being told they're the brightest and best that they may have little concern for whatever lesser beings get spied on, shamed, discredited, disenfranchised during their fun intellectual challenges. Right, I'm on a list somewhere now! Hi echelon.
- fit2rule 11y agoGCHQ have a brainwashing program that is designed to keep their staff in line with the status quo. If you so much as step into an interview, you have joined their cult. And it IS a cult, make no doubt about it!
- dreamfactory2 11y agoAren't they more like glorified filing clerks?
- diyorgasms 11y agoI speak only for myself, but I recently met someone who works for the NSA, and I told him off like I've never told anyone off before. It was my goal to do my best to break him as a person as much as I can with words. People who work for these agencies deserve no quarter, and they serve no useful place in a free and open society. I don't view myself as a 'mean' person, and I probably wasn't particularly effective when abusing this guy, but I like to think it's the thought that counts.
- Afforess 11y ago> It was my goal to do my best to break him as a person as much as I can with words. Really? Wow. I am concerned at the lack of human decency, the unwillingness to at least conduct a civil dialogue about his point of view. "Breaking" a person is really quite manipulative, harsh, and implies their existing person and personality are 'wrong', and I am concerned that is even considered as a valid action. Even the devil deserves his fair day in court.
- throwawayaway 11y ago> fair day in court. FISA? In my dealings with sociopaths, or merely the deluded, nothing sets the record straight like a public calling out on their bullshit. The softly softly approach with these enablers doesn't work quick enough, unless you meet them regularly. You want the experience to stick.
- Afforess 11y agoWow. With that approach, I fear that a lot of innocents will be hurt on your path to 'justice'. Whatever happened to 'It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer'?
- MrZongle2 11y agoDoesn't it really depend on what the ten were guilty of? Jaywalking, sure. Homicide, not so much.
- CardenB 11y agoI don't personally know anyone who respects the NSA like you described.
- davesque 11y agoI think that really depends on your circles. I can't think of anyone I know who trusts the NSA or looks at an employee of the NSA as a role model by default.