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60% of Americans Value Privacy Over Anti-Terror Protections
“Those who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
- Ben Franklin
The Founding Fathers valued privacy over safety. Indeed, the Revolutionary War was largely started to stop the use of spying by the British. Background here. In other words, the Founding Fathers gave up their safe life with little freedom to strive for real freedom.
The American people got spooked after 9/11, even though 9/11 was entirely foreseeable, and even the chair of the 9/11 Commission said that the attack was preventable.
But we are now remembering that liberty is more important than some mythical concept of complete safety.
A new AP-GfK poll released yesterday finds:
Americans are increasingly placing personal privacy ahead of being kept safe from terrorists, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. More than 60 percent of respondents said they value privacy over anti-terror protections.
It’s about time.
In Related News:
Forget Metadata … The NSA Is Spying On EVERYTHING
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The truth is we value our privacy till we suffer another terrorist attack and then we shift back to security. Lo and behold, months later the President will be using information again to defeat his political enemies much as the President of Ukraine has been doing.
Privacy is the essence of human civilization, where a boy's (girl's) yearnings grow and are nourished to develop his personality and free will.
That anybody could even envisage that such a vital building block of civilization needs to be destroyed to serve "reason of state" means our western age is digging out from its very roots the essence of our core experience and values over its entire timeline.
And, Its not just western its universal.
Play on Mr Snowden !
Who gives a flying fuck what 60% of the people want? More than than did not want Obamacare, and see how far that went. If we had a Representative Democracy it might matter, but now, shut up and bend over seems to be the meme.
Over 90% opposed TARP.
Well I guess its time for some more false flags then, them damn sheeple are getting slightly ornery.
I'd feel a lot safer if we rid of all the bankers. Who the hell needs them.
Weza don't needza dem darn banksters at all.
I got this email recently from my employer reminding us of the importance of patient privacy. At first, I chalked it up to typical corporate lecturing because I've worked long enough in the field to know the critical nature of this but after reading this I realize it holds some interesting points.
"At the start of this new year, we invite you to take a moment and reflect on the importance of patient privacy. We earn our patients’ trust every time they walk through our doors. Every one of us plays a very important role in earning their trust by treating our patients with respect and protecting their privacy and dignity.
Society views privacy as a basic human right that is rooted within the Constitution. Respecting privacy is important because it supports values such as respect, dignity and individuality. Likewise, protecting the privacy of health information is imperative because each record holds intimate details about a patient’s physical and mental health.
Patients have a strong desire to protect their health information. When surveyed, two out of every three respondents reported that they were concerned about breaches of their health records, which could result in embarrassment or harm. The fear of embarrassment often results in patients being reluctant to provide honest disclosures to their physicians. For example, a California HealthCare survey found that one out of eight respondents reported that they tried to protect their health information by:
* Asking their physician to either “fudge” a diagnosis or not document it
* Foregoing needed medical treatment
* Paying out of pocket
Unfortunately, privacy breaches do occur, from either intentional or accidental behavior. An example of an intentional privacy breach includes looking at the health information of family members or friends due to curiosity. However, the majority of privacy breaches are accidental, such as misdirected faxes or misdirected patient discharge instructions."
This shows me people are concerned about privacy and personal information and realize how damaging it could be for them if released. Perhaps people realize they have gone to far in revealing every detail about themselves on social media and now are beginning to see the dangers inherent in doing so. Once divulged to the world there is no going back.
Miffed;-)
I have had medical tests done outside the US because I did not trust the US medical procedures to protect the data. For genetic or familial issues the importance spans generations.
I work in IT and the Healthcare industry hires more incompetents in high IT positions than any industry I have been involved in.....
I'll assume you weren't counting government incompetents in your experience, or you're sadly mistaken.
Dude, your assumption is probably correct but I am not one of those who blame everything on the government while private enterprise is Lilly white only doing what the government forces them....
Truth is most people suck and when motivated by greed or even money, most people suck worse.
20%-40% of tasks done by humans are done wrong
"The American people got spooked after 9/11, even though 9/11 was entirely foreseeable, and even the chair of the 9/11 Commission said that the attack was preventable."...
G.W.
A quick note of appreciation for "what you do" in your blog with your keen observations and insight. But I think it's important that in the not too distant you strongly consider a "third leg" to the comment(s) given here by the likes of John Farmer, Senator Max Cleland, Bob Kerry, Lee Hamilton and Tom Kean on the cover up that was the "9/11 Commission Report" with the real champions that made the difference and put the "light on it" for the American public and the World starting with the FOIA requests of MSM footage that was deliberately withheld from the official investigation for years along with the forensics scientists and engineers involved in the analysis that "never were allowed", most important in all of it the collapse of the Salomon Brothers building (Bldg 7) 8 hours after the the Twin Towers collapsed.
These individuals are well known, and while they don't bear repeating, they are the foundation for how criminally fraudulent the Commission Report was in it's findings. James Gourley, William Pepper, Dr. Steven Jones, Professor Niels Harrit, Richard Gage of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth among countless others that turned a page in our history on a crime that changed everything with the emergency provisions under the Patriot Act(s) and NDAA and countless illegitimate foreign wars and occupations still being fought based (as we are repeteadly informed by Washington) that were the result of what took place on that day September 11, 2001.
What most Americans don't realize is that through organizations like AE/911 Truth U.S. Congressional Representatives from each State have had several visits over the course of the last 5 years to present evidence that was never made a part of the Commission Report and each of those Representatives has committed nothing less than an act of treason by ignoring those findings and refusing to discuss even the remote possibility of a substantive investigation with the facts that have been obtained but never revealed to the public through lawmakers.
Many independent bloggers like yourself, peace activists and civil liberties organizations make the absurd notion that the damage to both our legal system over the course of the last 12 years are so profound and numerous that a second investigation of the 9/11 events in and of themselves are irrelevant and would be meaningless. To that I say how truly naive and foolish could anyone possibly be, knowing how members of Congress' and Presidents (both past and present) have reacted and used those events as a means to enrich not only themselves but there patrons in the MIC at the expense of the American taxpayer. To add further insult to those naysayers that believe it has no place moving forward because of time and attrition I would further comment how secure are any of us in our belief that it will not happen again? Especially with what we are witnessing unfold in the financial markets reminiscent of what we saw in 2000 and 2001?
Would be interested to see more of your opinions on this through your blog in the future as the question(s) I've raised here bear repeating if we are ever to succeed in properly closing that dark chapter in finding the truths of what took place that day not only to honor the memory of the hundreds of victims who lost their lives in lower Manhatta, but also to the countless millions that followed who have been and continue to be murdered and maimed based on incidents and a "narrative" that we still don't know about in it's entirety but as we have been told now for more than a decade we must continue to fight these war(s) for our safety, protection and survival.
Capt. Jr.:
Yes.
We need law to enter the digital age, or at least its speed. In general we don't "go back" to investigate 911 because its impossibly cumbersome? We need a Constatine, Napoleon, Hammurabi, Soloman scale revolution. For example: high speed trading regulation? The evil of the current age knows, more and more, they are getting away with crime. Another example: off shore tax shelters and tax evasion. How about laws that should be FIXING the election process with its infestation of corporate and private money.
If the NSA can "see" everything what is their plan for applying the information to the existing legal framework? They can't so what's next? It's vexing that even the FBI says its not doing law enforcement. Who is? How?
-i am more afraid of US sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists than the NSA surveillance which is designed to catch them. ( i sometimes imagine that the left hand does know what the right hand is doing)
The sheeple are trained in government schools to trust government. In their small minds, they compare their fear of terrorists with their fear of the government they were trained to trust. No government can or ought be trusted with ultimate power over you. Government's a common delusion and a common rejection of personal responsibility by mankind. The sheeple crave a shepherd. The prophet Samuel warned the Israelites, three thousand years ago, that a king would enslave them. But, they still craved a king. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." When will they ever learn? 60% really? 60% ready to act? Sadly, hope is all we have.
40% of Americans are navel gazing basement dwelling cunts.
"Anti-Terror" Puleeeeeeeeeeze.
I grew up in UK in the '60s - '70s when the IRA were making things go bang all over the place.
North Americans have no clue when it comes to this.
At least back then I didn't feel like I was living in a goldfish bowl.
Different decades, but me too. I mentioned this years ago on ZH, but my office was in Bishopsgate when that massive bomb went off in 1993. Look up the pics and it's a miracle only 1 person was killed with 44 injured. I think it happened during the weekend so I wasn't there, but having your office blown up was not amusing. I had another narrow miss with another IRA bomb in Covent Garden when I was close enough to bleed from the ears and smell the smoke.
Those experiences affected me for years and made me consciously avoid dustbins where a bomb might be hidden. (Little known fact, but because of the IRA, London became the first city to receive blast absorbing and fire resistant bins.) Yet, I have not once proposed to bomb Ireland, (re)invade their country, kidnap and torture Irish people, or hate all the Irish folks for the actions of a few nutjob Irish republicans who were mainly funded by Americans. Sounds familiar. No, I didn't hate the Irish because that would been INSANE, even though I had every reason to despise the lot of them. So it really upsets me when puffed up cowardly sick morons keep using 9/11 as an excuse for all the hatred, warmongering, surveillance, assaults and abuses that have crossed over into the absurd, for "our security and safety".
I have said this before and I don't like to repeat it, but based on the behaviour of the American government and the vast majority of its people, I think far too many are cowards, bullies and psychopaths unable to fathom the disgust they provoke around the world. The notable exceptions here at zh like GW are sneered at and disparaged so often, I have wondered whether there's an environmental factor affecting the lowered intelligence and high degree of violent psychopathy in the region.
What does that say about us, & the UK govt? The diplomatic and military lapdog with its nose buried deep in the American back passage? Not a great deal better. I feel ashamed to be associated with any of our dealings with the US govt during the past few decades.
I think this article is encouraging, but we all know that nobody over there gave a damn when it was foreigners getting spied on. It's only when it starts to affect them personally that we hear the whining and outrage.
I had just walked out the tube station at Kings Cross when that
bomb went off.
A few minutes earlier, and I would have been on the victim list.
I carried on to my appointment. not the first/or last time that a random
act of violence nearly got me.
Life is short and capricious, enjoy every minute..
Well stated and I agree. The problem here is Americans have never had to deal with being randomly bombed or droned. Their main concerns are what's on tv and what box of food do they put in the microwave to eat for dinner. War has become just a spectator sport to watch on tv like some sick Roman colosseum. It's has nothing to do with them and if any sovereign nation being bombed, they obviously deserved it for threatening our freedoms. I think Americans have lost empathy for others and are so self absorbed they don't care about this government's destructive path. I am ashamed to be an American and 20 years ago I would have been shocked that I would feel that way. I'm tired living around fat, complacent, ignorant automatons that only parrot the party line.
YHC, please realize there are some here that are incredibly horrified what our country has become. We are not all cowards, bullies and psychopaths but our country has been hijacked by them. Realize, if the opportunity ever presented itself we would fight to take it back. But, I don't feel too hopeful about that happening soon. I'm just a lowly worker and powerless to effect any meaningful change.
Miffed;-)
+1
I know dear. We happy few are in the same proverbial boat.
WTF is wrong with the other 40% Heads up their ass syndrome?
Only 60%? Shame.
and if you give them a cookie it drops to 6%....
Cue a really spectacular false flag event.........
THAT will change minds so people will be BEGGING for 'protection' at any cost
Anyone else thinking that the Superbowl has a ton of unsold tickets for more reasons than 'the weather'?
"Cue a really spectacular false flag event........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h27HRNm_r4U
first of all i doubt seriously there is a ton of unsold tickets. since these things are sold and resold, the only problem is that the resellers (season ticket holders, etc) will not get as much as they might if the game was in Miami. right now the bookies are carrying heavy money on Denver, but have been unable to shift to neutral by moving the line, (or maybe they don't want to) i expected the line to open at Denver -7, and then close a bit, instead it opened at pickem and is now a bit wider. (nobody loves a bookie, but the game last year proved that if this game is going to justify the astronomical ad fees that it better be a close score, or someone will turn out the lights the reset the scoreboard. the NFL and the NBA are both on parity now, as games fixed for public consumption. who wants a rock concert in the freezing cold?
What are the odds the olympics will be worse?
o!