How An Israeli Sees The Recent NSA Controversy(medium.com)
medium.com
How An Israeli Sees The Recent NSA Controversy
https://medium.com/p/172f3d8ebb01
11 comments
you're right. "The goal of the NSA’s eavesdropping was to prevent automobiles".
Wow, now it's clear we need to outlaw cars.
Wow, now it's clear we need to outlaw cars.
His point is that the broad argument that damaging all of society a little is OK falls down when generalized. And, on top of that, even this intrusive, pervasive, broadly damaging surveillance doesn't actually prevent what it claims to prevent.
There is a problem with trying to analogize from the Israeli point of view. Almost no place on Earth is enough like Israel, and is in a sufficiently similar condition, for those analogies to work. As the TSA's behavioral screening fiasco shows, it is also, for the same reasons, very difficult to transplant Israeli practices in security.
There is a problem with trying to analogize from the Israeli point of view. Almost no place on Earth is enough like Israel, and is in a sufficiently similar condition, for those analogies to work. As the TSA's behavioral screening fiasco shows, it is also, for the same reasons, very difficult to transplant Israeli practices in security.
I should also point out that the Israeli method of doing airport screening is to be admired. Highly-trained agents who understand human psychology, body language, etc. ask the right questions and have a lot better chance of picking out who needs additional screening than the random algorithm that results in "SSS" being printed on your boarding pass.
Israel, from its inception has been in dramatically more danger than the U.S., so I'm not surprised that their attitudes are different.
Israel, from its inception has been in dramatically more danger than the U.S., so I'm not surprised that their attitudes are different.
"... the Israeli method of doing airport screening is to be admired"
Well that depends on who you ask. Palestinians or even people with distant Arab roots who are subject to racial profiling, or even people suspected of being, god forbid, peace activists might tell you otherwise. Some examples:
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/do-you-feel-more-arab-or-more-...
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/big-hold.html
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/6148-palestinian-at...
Well that depends on who you ask. Palestinians or even people with distant Arab roots who are subject to racial profiling, or even people suspected of being, god forbid, peace activists might tell you otherwise. Some examples:
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/do-you-feel-more-arab-or-more-...
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/big-hold.html
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/6148-palestinian-at...
You missed the point of the article ... that it's better to damage all of society a little bit to save some people from a lot of damage. And I was pointing out that most of our modern conveniences have some level of risk associated with them. Privacy has similar risks.
What's hypocritical about not wanting to live in a surveillance state?
Putting aside the condescending tone of the article, the actual argument represents the typical Israeli knee-jerk reaction to terrorism, and the absolutely myopic, black-and-white, I-don't-give-a-shit-about-anyone-else's-pain-because-we've-been-through-the-holocaust world view so proudly exhibited by the Israeli mainstream.
I'm also Israeli (although not currently living in Israel), and I can assure you that there are many Israelis, me included, who are very disturbed by the recent NSA revelations.
I'm also Israeli (although not currently living in Israel), and I can assure you that there are many Israelis, me included, who are very disturbed by the recent NSA revelations.
The concluding sentence screams "flag me".
No ... but if you write the same exact blog post replacing "terrorism" with "automobiles", you can make a very good argument for outlawing cars.