Ele and I were going round about this this morning and it's why I asked if you saw saw liberty as only a physical restriction. At some point, Ele came up with the terms set and subset, and for me that worked. Privacy isn't the equivalent of liberty, it is (for me) a part of my liberty, one of the conditions that allows it, and the erosion of any of those conditions threatens me in various ways.
Now this wiretapping may not. Wisely used, carefully employed, lawfully carried out.... but do we really have that kind of trust in the integrity of an admin acting without full disclosure - and not just today, but in the next admin, and the next?
You ask in another post if on considering the privacy issue, it may wind up as unimportant as balancing one's checkbook did for some. Perhaps, but it also could be a lazy acquiescence to something that holds no immediate personal threat (open books that we are), but could later evolve and expand to something that DOES affect me, and as someone who hasn't given the kind of thoughtful consideration to all of this before, now seems a good time to take a breath and do so.
Of course, I still balance my checkbook. :) |
