The Fantasy of Privacy

Amazingly, a lot of people don’t know this. We lost most of our privacy many years ago. No one knows the exact date, but as time has marched on this free nation known as America has lost most of its freedoms. The freedom of privacy is only the most recent freedom to be taken away. I say taken, but the worst part about this idea is that it actually wasn’t taken. We’ve given it all to the government.

Most people don’t believe this. “We couldn’t possibly have given away our privacy. I think I would have remembered doing that!” Well, you do. Show of hands, how many people wanted the extra cameras on street corners, to keep an eye on speeders? Or the ones in public parks and buildings to make sure no crimes were being committed? What about allowing the government to tap ‘certain’ phone conversations that ‘may’ threaten the security of the country? Sorry to tell you folks, but those were not just set up to monitor all the bad little boys and girls, but also to keep an eye on the good ones. Not just incase they go bad, but just incase the information on them could one day be useful.

The government never said they were only going to watch the speeders. True, that camera is usually in a fixed position, so stay out of the way of that camera. But then they got the public to vote on other cameras that could move, the next step up. No one saw a problem with this, since the fixed ones did so well. Now they could see anything they wanted from fixed positions. I don’t even remember when they started to tap the phone lines. Sure, they say they only record conversations with certain key phrases, but they never did tell us all of the words and phrases they put on that list. They mentioned a couple, but not the entire list. Otherwise the ‘terrorists’ would know them and avoid them. As a result, they can record every phone call and know everything that went on, including who made it and who received it. If they find something of interest and can’t pass it off in another way, they can pick a word out of the conversation before the information they want and say that’s one of their secret words.

It’s not limited to the real world, either. Anytime they want, they can reach for a ‘random’ person’s log of internet habits. Sure, they can’t view the exact address you go to, but they don’t have to. They can view the IP addresses of where you go and what you do. For those that don’t know, an IP address is the EXACT location of something in a computer or network, mostly ports. Since the internet is a link of server computers, each main site being a new IP address, the government, and pretty much any branch of law enforcement, can see into the minds of anyone they please, simply by looking at the sites they visit and how often they visit them. Not just the criminals, but the law abiding citizens that are getting in their way.

Until recently, e-mail wasn’t safe either. Only recently was a law passed that, under certain circumstances, no one was allowed to view your e-mail. But, the second they ‘confirm’ that you qualify for their ‘special circumstances’ they will immediately check on your e-mail. However, they don’t need to do that much. They can simply ask the e-mail provider for your username and password and gain access whenever they want. Your provider won’t say no, because they know how much trouble the police can be. Then all they have to do is have one of their ‘tech’ guys login and grab anything they can use against you, whether relevant or not.

You know what the next step is? Locator chips, implanted into the body, so the government knows where you are every hour of every day until you die. If you do nothing ‘wrong’ you live a very boring life. If you live life how it should be lived, absolutely free, you’re bound to wind up in jail. Don’t believe me? They’re already trying to pass a law to have prisoners implanted so they can keep an eye on them. They’re also guilting parents into getting them for their children. The next logical step would be to have them set at a high price for adults. Then a lower price so everyone can afford it. Lastly, they will become mandatory, “for the good of the nation.” So much for our freedom.

Just the other day, a guy was arrested for ‘littering’ when the police saw a sign on his lawn that said “Impeach Bush” on the front. That’s it. The court eventually let him go, due to freedom of speech, and paid him for the court costs, but that sentiment won’t hold for long. If the police can arrest you for your opinion, even today, imagine what kind of ‘freedoms’ we will have in the near future. As long as it is “for the good of the nation” the government can do anything.

Keep this in mind, the next time you go voting away your freedoms. Take a good long look at what you are voting on, and try to look past the lies. Read through every word of that issue, and see what they are really trying to do. Decide for yourself what the government can do with this, simple, law-abiding issue, and then decide whether or not it’s worth it.

Is piece of mind really worth the freedom you pay?