Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> This is not about you. This is not about your data

Democracy means that your fellow citizens get a vote too. If you and those that agree with you can't craft a message that appeals to them and their day-to-day concerns, the grandparent comment will continue to be quite correct.




Just to be clear, there was never any kind of vote on any of these spying programs.

The citizens never asked for this intrusion and would likely have resisted if they had been, so it was executed in secret, and would have remained a complete secret if not for Snowden.

Nobody has even tried to "craft a message that appeals to the public" until AFTER the fact, when their overreach had been exposed.

A democracy generally works by citizens' issue A going to politicians B and being passed after debate to agency C which effects action D; in our situation currently the NSA has decided that it is in the best interest of itself to effect surveillance. It isn't democracy in action no matter how you attempt to spin it.


Which is why we have a Constitutionally limited system of democracy. The rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are inviolable, even by a majority.

The suppression of the minority factions by the majority is always popular, which is exactly why the bill of rights exists.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: