On the Legitimacy of NSA Spying

Over the last three years the almost unbelievable level of communications interception by the NSA has been revealed largely through the Snowden leaks. They have revealed many threats to the principles of limited government, notably in domestic eavesdropping and in collusion with other domestic policing agencies (see DEA and “parallel construction”). While these are grave matters that have gotten ahead of the law’s ability to regulate and present novel and particularly frightening invasions of privacy and deserve to have a national conversation exploring them, not all of the activities of the NSA are illegitimate.

Spying on foreign leaders, especially those of our allies, has been excoriated in our press and in foreign countries. But this is truly an activity within the scope of the NSA’s mission. While it can be argued that it is foolish and a waste of resources, I believe it is legitimate as long as the information is not passed to private companies for commercial gain. The myth of a brotherhood of nations is a dangerous fairy tale. The US has strong allies, but even those allies don’t have interests that strictly align with ours all the time. While foreign policy should not be conducted in a completely ruthless and amoral manner, it should be conducted with a level of self-interest. Spying is therefore a critical task that every nation which is capable engages in, even on their allies.

Technology and Voyeurism

One marked social effect of changing technology has been to distort the human experience of observing one another. It is now easier than ever to peek into people’s private lives and to experience a wide range of emotions and obtain a good deal of pleasure or entertainment while doing so. One effect of this is to increase the sense of superficiality that permeates modern life. We are all being surveilled all the time by not just corporations and the state, but by each other, and we project ourselves accordingly.

We may, before a first date (if we didn’t find our potential partner online), Google someone to perform a brief background check. This manifestation of our voyeurism can be potentially destructive but is perhaps the least dangerous aspect of this modern process. Voyeurism tends to cause fetishism. People are reduced to objects and ownership of these objects can be conferred on the viewer. This is why dating sites and apps like Tinder are problematic for society. They reduce our empathy and our view of people as unique and deserving.

Outside of personal relationships there is the baser parts of life that are now in full consciousness for the first time in human history. The modern era has shown an ever increasing incongruity between the public acceptance of sex and violence and the private ability of people to view it. Pornography and filmed violence permeate the internet. The discord between public and private life, and the increased scope of public life, are also damaging to society. A society that looks on death and sex as taboo in public, but as mundane in private, is bound to develop a shame complex, as well as dehumanizing the participants and victims of sex and violence respectively.

One example that vindicates the mass-development of shame, which is caused by the public revelation of private embarrassment, is the proliferation of cringe-comedy in documentary or first-person style. It enables a catharsis for people to experience vicariously, and voyeuristically, other people’s shame.

The long-term effects of shame and dehumanization cannot be good for the public health of society, and it may be a primary cause of increased anxiety, depression, and mental illness, as well as feeding sexual deviancy.

New York State and democracy

To any close observer of the political process in Albany it is apparent that New York gets stuff done. Under the leadership of Andrew Cuomo legislation is passed, deals get done, problems are addressed, and the state runs smoothly. The other side of this is that New York State is run in an undemocratic fashion and for the exclusive benefit of elected officials and their benefactors. Personal vendettas and political payoffs drive policy and many concerned voices are stifled and silenced. The passage of the budget this year is a prime example. Three men conducted all the negotiations and there was no time for the legislation to be made public before the votes. Anti-corruption measures were not passed, despite the state legislature’s recent and frequent transgressions. In the larger sense of American political life it would seem that the citizens have an unfortunate choice: either accept gridlock and divisive politics, or submit to dictatorial and corrupt public governance. What are voters supposed to do?

Political Crisis

Fracturing political parties, loss of faith in the efficacy of government, gridlock. The Weimar Republic failed for many reasons unique to its place in the history of Germany, but many of its problems reflect on the current situation in the United States. The breaking point for the Weimar government came several years before the appointment of Hitler to the office of Chancellor when Chancellors, in order to break the gridlock in the Reichstag began ruling by fiat. The country came under the rule of dictators before Hitler. Gridlock is the destroyer of democracy, it is the fatal flaw in democratic government. Western Europe in the 1920’s and 30’s provides at least 3 clear examples of the danger to democratic governments caused by gridlock. Spain in the 1930’s, France in the 20’s and 30’s and, of course, Germany.

The United States has been in a prolonged political crisis since at least the Presidential election of 2000. The problems have accelerated since 2006. The fundamental problems of a changing economy, which has seen the destruction of high-paying, stable jobs that did not require substantial education, has driven much political dissatisfaction in this country. The extensive gerrymandering leading to a more politically extreme House of Representatives has not helped, nor the proliferation of lobbying to aid increasingly expensive and prolonged political campaigns. Additionally, the democratization of news media fostered by the Internet which has allowed people to listen to politically affirming news and commentary to the exclusion of generally agreed upon facts and opinions has widened the gulf between people of differing political persuasions.

The true problem in the country is the gulf between what many conservatives and liberals believe. It seems that now, more than any time in recent memory, that one side completely rejects the view of the other. The problem with this is that in addition to politically polarizing legislation facing intractable resistance, more mundane affairs and non-partisan issues become casualties of gridlock. A host of problems that are facing the United States right now and in the near future are being swept under the rug. There has been no comprehensive strategy to deal with cybersecurity for American corporations which face enormous long term problems from the theft of their intellectual property, which makes them vulnerable to foreign competition and represents a theft of billions of dollars of research and development. There is no comprehensive strategy for updating American infrastructure and coming to terms with our many legacy institutions. Medicare and social security are economically unsound and will eventually fail or suck up too much of the national budget and, finally, there is no plan to deal with $19 trillion in debt. The absurdities of the rise of Donald Trump are the least of the problems facing the nation, and in the long view, it is not the Donald Trumps, but the mundanities of proper governance that are a threat to the Republic.