Within the last 24 hours, we have learned that NSA has successfully circumvented the most popular forms of encryption in use on the Internet today. This revelation not only undermines the career of people like myself, who essentially work exclusively with web facing technologies within our applications and solutions, but it also undermines the future of the American public.
How does this undermine the future of the American Public? Well that’s simple. It’s undermining the future of the industry in which I work. The Information Technology industry is one of the few industries in America that is experiencing upward mobility nowadays. If you undermine that industry, you unavoidably undermine the future of this country. Moreover, the technology that the NSA has undermined is relied upon by every other industry on the planet. You may not personally care about SSL encryption, but it is one of the few things that stand between your purchase on Amazon and somebody being able to snatch your credit card information out of thin air. If that doesn’t strike you as a problem, then perhaps it’s time for you to switch over to something that is more your speed.
But there must be a good reason, right? Sadly no. The US government has spent the last decade and change gorging itself on fear and propaganda. While it claims that undermining the basis of the world economy is necessary to keep the American people safe from foreign terrorists, nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that at least until 9/11 (after which this becomes debatable), America was a free country. In a truly free country, nobody can ever hope to prevent anything bad from happening to anybody. It simply isn’t possible. If you believe that it is possible to live within a free country while simultaneously residing within an impenetrable protective cocoon, then you are a fool. It is not possible. It seems clear that the government wants us as citizens to believe otherwise. And that is where the problem begins.
By doing what it has done, the NSA has effectively begun to wage war on the very concept of freedom. It’s ironic considering that so many American politicians over the years have made the questionable claim that terrorists attack America because they “hate our freedom”. Does anybody really believe that? Since 9/11, the level of freedom in this country has dropped drastically. Don’t believe me? Well don’t take my word for it then. The core issue here is that we are hellbent on fighting our so-called “War on Terror”. We do this by attempting to kill as many suspected terrorists as possible regardless of the collateral damage. For better or worse, these policies have only served to inflame the people who were on the fence in regards to whether or not America is the Anti-Christ. In addition, our policies are radicalizing those who would not otherwise have been radicalized. We are killing women and children in the streets without any concern for the long term consequences that come with taking such an action. Is it any wonder these people are pissed off and resorting to violence?
But I digress. The point here is to demonstrate that undermining our economy and our future as a country in an effort to root out terrorists is a misguided exercise at best. If you want to solve the terrorism problem, get the hell out of the Middle East. We don’t belong there. Most of the problems that exist in the Middle East are currently the result of the meddling of the West. Don’t believe me? Again, please don’t take my word for it. The time has come for us to accept that our meddling has not solved any problems and will likely never solve any problems. Keep in mind that this conclusion doesn’t just apply to the Middle East. It applies to every part of the world. Since World War II, America has not once successfully intervened in another country’s affairs with military force. We have a long list of failures behind us and a single success. While I do agree that there are times in which the world could use a policeman, I have no problem arguing that America is completely incapable of filling that role competently.
How have we failed? We claim on one hand that we are moral leader of the world while on the other violating those morals whenever it suits us. Our government told us that if we purchased technology products from the Chinese, those products would have backdoors integrated into them. And yet… we have just found out that American products have those backdoors. Our government is condemning Mr. Assad in Syria for gassing innocent women and children. And yet… we kill innocent women and children every single day with our constant drone strikes around the world. Our government tells us that the use of so-called “Weapons of Mass Destruction” is wrong and constitutes a crime against humanity as a whole. And yet… we will defend our use of not just one, but two nuclear weapons against civilian filled cities in Japan to the death.
The reality is that America is not a moral leader. Leaders lead by example. America instead wishes to lead by decree. That should not nor will it ever work. Our quest to cleanse the world of fear and strife has led us down a long and dark road which has seemingly resulted in the worst possible outcome: We have begun to become the very thing that we spent so much of our time railing against. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can begin to rectify the problem. The longer we deny it, the worse it will be when this inescapable reality comes home to roost.
In any event the first step we must take to resolve this problem is to punish the transgressors behind it. This is why the NSA must be abolished. Not just abolished but the people running the agency must be prosecuted and punished appropriately for their crimes. And no the death penalty should not be taken off the table. It’s time for America to learn that leading by example is the only way to lead. And to that, it’s time to clean up the mess we have made and punish those most responsible for making it. There is simply no other way.