LQD: The German surveillance state | 24 comments (24 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: LQD: The German surveillance state (4.00 / 5)

If Schäuble had his way, we'd be under rigorous supervision.

I know they say that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, but after watching the global neocons I'm starting to think it's indignation.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 06:28:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hate bringing up past "bad ideas" (none / 1)

but didn't the whole Nazi thing 70 years ago teach anybody anything over in Germany? Or are we seeing something totally different? Is it just short memory?

Forgive me. This whole Obama thing is going to my head. I'm having visions of DEMOCRACY for the US. Very intoxicating stuff.

Hey afew! Just cause I'm away for a week doesn't give you the right to stop thinking. You know what I'm talking about. :)

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 08:39:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hate bringing up past "bad ideas" (4.00 / 2)

Fortunately the judiciary gets it: the Constitutional Court has a strong record of curtailing draconian legislation or throwing it out altogether.

Schäuble himself belongs to that school of politicians that tries to use every excuse to extend the powers of the state to infringe on individual freedoms.

And memory is a funny thing... A general awareness of who the Nazis were and what they actually did didn't begin to become pervasive in the public mind until the mid-60s, when the next generation came of age. You can read this fact as one of the subtexts of much public unrest in Germany in the 60s and 70s.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 09:03:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hate bringing up past "bad ideas" (4.00 / 5)

I worked for a telecoms company in Germany. And the phone-tapping and internet-tapping facilities we had to put in place were quite... well... disturbing. And this was around 2000-2001.

As I understood it, at that time, the procedure for getting warrants to use the equipment was fairly strict. I'm not one to instinctively go for "slippery slope" arguments, but I think you can at least see that the existence of the technical facilities normalised the procedure in the minds of some politicians.

Schäuble and the Stasi epithet: I like the fact that he's becoming sensitive about it. Maybe if it is pushed more in his face he might even actually start thinking about why he's being described so...

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 09:16:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hate bringing up past "bad ideas" (none / 1)

dvx:

A general awareness of who the Nazis were and what they actually did didn't begin to become pervasive in the public mind until the mid-60s, when the next generation came of age. You can read this fact as one of the subtexts of much public unrest in Germany in the 60s and 70s.

And the leaders of that generation are now old, in power and wants control...

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 12:03:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hate bringing up past "bad ideas" (4.00 / 2)

but didn't the whole Nazi thing 70 years ago teach anybody anything over in Germany?

It didn't teach anybody anything over here. Why should Germany be any different?

Forgive me. This whole Obama thing is going to my head. I'm having visions of DEMOCRACY for the US. Very intoxicating stuff.

Very. Nothing like it!

But the hangover is going to be a MONSTER!

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Thu Nov 13th, 2008 at 10:45:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LQD: The German surveillance state | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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