I am mulling the ramifications of illegal search and seizure. Specifically, routine surveillance. Without it, it is possible we'd never have found the Boston bombers. But does it compromise our rights to privacy? And if so, is it worth it?
Being on the right side of the law in most instances, and being white, I don't feel the effects of racial profiling, stop and frisk programs, and illegal search and seizure via surveillance. I suppose if I were a citizen concerned about the government taking away my rights I would be more leery of this. What I fear more is corporate interests dictating legislation that directly affects me and my family - big pharma pushing drugs for symptoms instead of cures for illnesses, the industrial food complex pushing franken-food, (including weird feeds that cows really shouldn't be eating,) and lobbying groups that affect public policy (don't get me started on the NRA - 90% of Americans support background checks but the senate thinks they can better represent the people by listening to the mouthpiece of gun manufacturers.)
I must say that in a world where common courtesy, the sanctity of real live people and stuff that makes sense is diminished, I really don't mind having someone looking over my shoulder to help ensure folks toe the line.
For people who think surveillance is the beginning of the end - the folks who invoke Nazi comparisons and selectively quote both the bible and the constitution to support their arguments, there is nothing anyone can say or do to convince them that oversight is good. I worry about how this Boston episode will trouble them. I wish there were something that could be said to put their minds at ease.
In the meantime, I am comforted by the tools that law enforcement now uses to monitor this type of illegal activity and bring swift closure to these episodes.
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