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> Small Government is a nice, and good, idea, but history shows us that neither surveillance apparatus (pl.) nor secret police (pl.) relinquish power, ever, wit
by gotchange 10y ago
> Small Government is a nice, and good, idea, but history shows us that neither surveillance apparatus (pl.) nor secret police (pl.) relinquish power, ever, within existing in the same continuum of legitimation (ie. state). There has been no previous instance where either were reduced; they only grow until chopped off entirely.
Is there a book or article that I can read about this point?
I'd really appreciate it if you could show me a few examples.
- throwawayish 10y agoI think the most prominent examples would be: Nazis (obviously), Stasi / DDR / GDR, Chile (Pinochet) and the dictatorship in Argentina; but in the last century there were many more examples, be it in South America, Africa or eastern Europe. Wikipedia has a list of historical secret police: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_secret_police_organizations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_secret_poli... -- Current examples that are still alive and well could be the various GCC states, but especially Saudi Arabia there; the UK and the US to some degree each (both are obviously full-blown surveillance states at the very least; and it can be reasonably argued that (divisions of) the FBI and some other agencies qualify as a secret police) in the western hemisphere; Russia.