Re:Snowden granted 1-year asylum in Russia, leaves airport
by Zigurd on Thursday August 01, 2013 @11:06AM
(#6140772)
The open-ended nature of this anti-terrorist campaign/effort/whatever reflects the open-ended nature of the risk.
The risk is not "open ended" than any other risk. It can be estimated. Objectively, as many others have argued here, the response has been far more costly, destructive, and damaging to institutions and ideals we say we are trying to protect than the threat itself.
Re:Snowden granted 1-year asylum in Russia, leaves airport
by ant512 on Thursday August 01, 2013 @10:19AM
(#6140462)
It's interesting that the response to a lunatic with a semiautomatic is to mount massive internet surveillance rather than, for example, outlaw semiautomatics or provide free mental healthcare.
Security people do think about what motivated individuals can do. If some lunatic with a semiautomatic rifle can massacre dozens of people in a school or movie theater or shut down a major city for days, what could a trained group of fanatics do? There's a nearly limitless number of horrible things that can happen, and many of these things are real risks, just waiting for the right fanatic or lunatic to go for it.
The open-ended nature of this anti-terrorist campaign/effort/whatever reflects the open-ended nature of the risk.
That said, I think Snowden did a valuable thing. I think the approach the government has taken is too secretive and too much of an overreach. In an attempt to foil terrorists, we're undermining our democracy and the integrity of our institutions.