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<rant> It is precisely this hypocrisy that has rankled more and more as the years roll by. Sure other countries do horrible stuff but nobody else claims to be s

<rant> It is precisely this hypocrisy that has rankled more and more as the years roll by. Sure other countries do horrible stuff but nobody else claims to be such a bastion of freedom and democracy. As one learns about the sordid interventionist past of the USA one then realizes that the superficial rhetoric is at variance with past actions. These double standards reek of the colonial mindset that is meant to be well behind us. I follow a couple of blogs and it is this they return to time and again. The double standards. The hypocrisy. Imagine if the USA didn't make such claims then when the whole NSA/Snowden thing broke people would just say, "oh well, that's just par for course then". So can we just drop the whole freedom and democracy rhetoric now? Can we drop the pretense? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and all that. Measure for measure the USA is one of the more hostile and anti-democratic regimes globally. </rant> Also, can I have my privacy back please?

twoodfin 13y ago
I think you need to follow a few more blogs.
Amadou 13y ago
If it weren't for the rhetoric, guys like Snowden would never have been indoctrinated with the ideas of freedom and democracy, the very ideas that caused him to act. So no, I do not want to drop the rhetoric.
krenoten 13y ago
In the words of Steven Rambam - "privacy is dead, get over it!" It would be foolish to assume that our gov't will be fixing any of this any time soon. It would also be foolish to discard the one advantage the citizens have - a general awareness that freedom is something they cherish. That they don't understand what freedom is, exactly, is another issue. But never fear - physics is stronger than US law, and we can create tools that allow those with the awareness of the importance of freedom and the ability to seek them out (another issue you can help with) to not be impeded by those pervasive forces.

twoodfin 13y ago

I think you need to follow a few more blogs.

Amadou 13y ago

If it weren't for the rhetoric, guys like Snowden would never have been indoctrinated with the ideas of freedom and democracy, the very ideas that caused him to act. So no, I do not want to drop the rhetoric.

krenoten 13y ago

In the words of Steven Rambam - "privacy is dead, get over it!" It would be foolish to assume that our gov't will be fixing any of this any time soon. It would also be foolish to discard the one advantage the citizens have - a general awareness that freedom is something they cherish. That they don't understand what freedom is, exactly, is another issue. But never fear - physics is stronger than US law, and we can create tools that allow those with the awareness of the importance of freedom and the ability to seek them out (another issue you can help with) to not be impeded by those pervasive forces.