Glenn Greenwald recently mentioned on Piers Morgan (CNN) a point crucial to the discussion of the surveillance issue: that there is no evidence supporting the NSA's assertion that the organization's broad data collection programs have prevented 50 "potential terrorist events" since 9/11. There is a big difference between these programs thwarting terrorist activity and these programs merely running in the background while attacks are thwarted using other, more conventional methods.
As I mentioned in my June 12 blog post, the fulcrum on which public opinion fluctuates on this issue is terrorism and national security. If the goal is investigating terrorist activity, a majority approves of the NSA's current measures. However, when terrorism and national security are not in the foreground, Americans tend to be more circumspect on the issue of surveillance. On this matter, see the second link below to a piece by a Cato Institute analyst; while I do not share Cato's libertarian convictions, the article is sound and underlines an important point.
Be that as it may, Americans are in general rather relaxed on the subject. Just as a personal observation, I don't detect much concern regarding what has come to light after Edward Snowden's recent revelations. A common response is that the government is looking to monitor bad guys, not the average Joe, and therefore Joe needn't worry. This attitude of "I have nothing to hide" reveals an enormous amount of trust in the government. Furthermore, it does not jibe with the polling data (see link 3) revealing that only three in ten Americans trust the government and that a majority feel Washington "is a threat to their personal rights and freedoms."
Never more starkly has this discrepancy been on display than right after 9/11. A nation that routinely refers to politicians as "liars and crooks," after the attacks stood stock-still, fearful, bewildered, and believed everything the Bush-Cheney administration told them. The White House, through manipulation of this bewilderment, created two savage, needless (not to mention expensive) wars. The politicians are deemed liars and crooks only when the weather is fair; when the situation becomes deadly serious, steadfast is the faith in our leaders.
As long as the population is passive, its wants and needs will always get short shrift. Washington works primarily in the service of the private sector, which is of course integral to the surveillance leviathan. According to a New York Times editorial (Jun. 19), "Of the estimated $80 billion the government will spend on intelligence this year, most is spent on private contractors."
It is illogical to put faith in an entity that is serving another's interests. But as long as fear and ignorance concerning national security persist, the population will always remain submissive on the subject. Thus, the public nonchalance with regard to the NSA news coverage.
Greenwald
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/19-10
Cato
http://www.cato.org/blog/public-more-wary-nsa-surveillance-pundits-claim
Pew poll
http://www.pewresearch.org/key-data-points/views-of-government-key-data-points
