Dr. Michael J. O’Connell, PainCare, New Hampshire, notes that there has been lots of concern over the National Security Agency (NSA) gathering information on our telephone call records and also, albeit somewhat less concerning, Intel gathering on our allies abroad.
All the controversy originated with information theft by Edward Snowden (if ever the latter returns to this country he should tried for treason...better yet he moves to a particularly exposed area where we can call in a drone strike and spare him and us the labors of a court trial). One very positive aspect of the actions of this confused and wrongheaded man, he has afforded us a tremendous opportunity to shine the light on the real and much more efficient invaders of our personal lives. As Pogo said, "we have met the enemy, and he is us."
Through Facebook, Twitter and numerous other social media, hundreds of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions more worldwide, expose their private lives and opinions and in often intimate detail every day. This largely accepted, or ignored, exposure, absolutely dwarfs the information gathering by the NSA, manifold. Now that potential employers and would-be personal ‘enemies’ are accessing social media, we should wake up and recognize that Sir Edward has actually done us a service. Question is, will we avail ourselves of his treasonous acts and come to grips with the very dangerous downside of social media? The NSA is hardly 1984; Facebook is!
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