Interesting you should mention Snowden. The phrase that haunted me from that first interview with Snowden is "turnkey tyranny". The powers of the US security ap

Interesting you should mention Snowden. The phrase that haunted me from that first interview with Snowden is "turnkey tyranny". The powers of the US security apparatus and its FAANG deputies are vast, unparalleled. My belief (I may be wrong) is that Five Eyes are still far and away the premier intelligence superpower, with China a distant second (or Russia, I don't know). The difference is that China actively abuses the powers it has, restricts its citizens on the internet, surveils their legal rights (not just their borrowing status a la credit ratings) with the state-controlled social credit scores, and continues to track apostates who emigrate abroad. It's China that is working on the model modern tech-enabled concentration camp for ethnic minorities in Xinjiang (although the word genocide would be hyperbolic here: We have no evidence of extermination or of plans in that direction). Moreover, the CCP has gone in the wrong direction under Xi, away from a stable oligarchy that was progressive in certain areas, and towards dictatorship and lockdown. If a true totalitarian ever controlled the US security apparatus, such a tyrant could turn that turnkey. (I'm not talking about Trump, who might try some unconstitutional tricks, but when he's defeated in court, tweets something nasty about the judge, then abides by the ruling). Right now, however, the US still has restraint, has checks & balances, which are imperfect but let's not underestimate them or be ungrateful. Similarly, although things are fraught with traditional US allies like NATO, it's not like the US is leveraging even a fraction of its sigint supremacy in, say, agricultural trade negotiations with France. Point is, US & allied capabilities are scarier than any other country by far, but the way that China (and Russia, though overhyped) actively use their power in practice is way more insidious. The media has educated people to call out "whatabout-ism" when they see it in the Trump crowd. Let's call it out when we see it from the fascist CCP and their apologists.