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I think a major reason for the indifference is ignorance. Many people here in the UK are not well informed on this issue. I'm shocked at how many people I've sp

by jsmcgd 13y ago

I think a major reason for the indifference is ignorance. Many people here in the UK are not well informed on this issue. I'm shocked at how many people I've spoken to about this and they're only hearing it for the first time. Apart from the Guardian no major news outlet that I have seen has given this scandal any prominence. They have mostly acquiesced with the recommendation from our security services that they don't report on this issue. In my opinion another scandal in itself. Another factor may be that people in this country don't think the risk of tyranny returning as credible. They don't believe that the danger posed by mass surveillance will ever be anything but hypothetical, that somehow a free society is our national destiny. This shocking complacency manages to both totally ignore human nature and the lesson from almost every history book ever written. As a country I really hope we get real about these issues and that we stop taking our hard won civil liberties for granted. Ultimately they're the only things that can be trusted to truly protect our democracy.

richardjordan 13y ago
I think to the contrary that Brits, an Europeans in general are vastly more sensitive to the threat of nazi-style or communist-like government - and corporate - oppression than Americans who are, by and large, complacent on this topic despite all the anti-government rhetoric you hear. As a result governments can't get away with as much because people watch closely. Combine this with the greater sense that the government runs the provision of critical services like healthcare and people have a better relationship with their government so fight over what matters, and there tends to be a good sense of what that is. Also the British political system is far more responsive to the electorate than is the US system which famously has less churn among elected officials than the old soviet politburo. This means that the electorate has more confidence in its ability to effect change.

by jsmcgd 13y ago

richardjordan 13y ago

I think to the contrary that Brits, an Europeans in general are vastly more sensitive to the threat of nazi-style or communist-like government - and corporate - oppression than Americans who are, by and large, complacent on this topic despite all the anti-government rhetoric you hear. As a result governments can't get away with as much because people watch closely. Combine this with the greater sense that the government runs the provision of critical services like healthcare and people have a better relationship with their government so fight over what matters, and there tends to be a good sense of what that is. Also the British political system is far more responsive to the electorate than is the US system which famously has less churn among elected officials than the old soviet politburo. This means that the electorate has more confidence in its ability to effect change.