As a long time government employee, my most sensitive personal information was forfeit some time ago. I still believe it is important that individuals in a “constitutional republic” should have a right to privacy if they choose.
However, there are a few issues with TOTAL privacy… one of the main problems is sociopaths, psychopaths, extremist groups, and other malcontent predators. If there is a total blackout of a governments ability to spy on its people, how can that government protect its people in this modern age.
As the gene pool gets larger with the help of modern/postmodern sciences and health practices, its clear that the amount of psychopaths & sociopaths per 100,000 has grown significantly.
If you combine that number with the number of people who are highly suggestible and indoctrinated in the “red” extremist parts of the religious and political spectrum, you have a recipe for terrorism in pockets around the world which exactly what we are seeing now.
This combination of disturbed individuals + technological means of taking out scores, 100’s or even thousands of human beings is deadly.
The Problem with Big GOvernment
So is bigger government the answer? Liberalism & conservatism aside, as governments gain the legal power to spy, arrest, control people without checks and balances and without probable cause, their size and strength will grow to the point of a sort of bureaucratic dictatorship (something NO one in their right mind would mistake for freedom). Without checks and balances, it is also possible for such an all powerful government to commit atrocities and crimes against humanity for its own gain. It becomes like an out of control beast with its own will. The Nazi party is a clear growth of such unchecked power.
One Solution.
Cho Seung, the killer at Virginia Tech, showed numerous signs of self-destructive and sociopathic behavior. There is currently no system in place among private and public organizations to pin point, profile and deal with behaviors of potential predators.
Perhaps if their was a comprehensive system in place State monitoring would not be necessary. Such a comprehensive system could be created by criminal psychologist, profilers, statisticians, lawyers, police and other agencies. The system would have to consist of monitoring and observing at a LOCAL level and report to proper authority. Once certain behaviors are observed, they could then be reported anonymously to a much smaller state/federal monitoring service.
This would be a top down approach and would definitely not stop all random acts of violence, but monitoring everyone at a Federal level seems a bit ridiculous this side of prison.
