Raising the social cost of working for the NSA means raising the difficulty the NSA faces in attracting talented employees. Already the NSA has to convince mat

Raising the social cost of working for the NSA means raising the difficulty the NSA faces in attracting talented employees. Already the NSA has to convince mathematicians and computer scientists to give up certain career paths when they begin work for the NSA. That alone makes it difficult for the NSA to attract talent. So adding a social cost to working for the NSA would make it that much harder. A grad student considering a career with the NSA should be forced to consider the possibility that their adviser and their friends might not be willing to even talk to them as a result. It may not seem like much, but every time a talented researcher chooses to work for the public instead for the NSA, the public wins a small victory.