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Surveillance State Quotes

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Surveillance State Quotes

“A Malignant State by Stewart Stafford When oozing eyes of paranoia, And the septic ears of hearsay, Vomit hysteria up as atrocity, The mad dog jackal has its day. A demented warden's open prison, Each dwelling house, a divided cell, Community focus now second best, Our loved ones, cats in the wishing well. For your "security," a police state, gifted, Humiliation's fires rage by a dry water spout, A lawfare circus for their spoiler alerts, Truth's spectral vessel a flood of doubt. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

TruthPoetryFearLiesPropagandaControlOrwellianBig BrotherSurveillance StatePolitical Poetry
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“And this is not just the United States’ problem, it is a global problem. One of the primary arguments used by apologists for this surveillance state that has developed across the United States and in every country worldwide is a trust of the government. This is critical — even if you trust the U.S. government and their laws[...] think about the governments you fear the most, whether it is China, Russia or North Korea, or Iran. These spying capabilities exist for everyone. This is not just an American thing; this is happening in every country in every part of the world. We first need to move beyond the argumentation by policy officials of wishing for something that is technically impossible. The idea ‘Let's get rid of encryption’. It is out of their hands. The jurisdiction of Congress ends at its borders. Even if all strong encryption is banned in the United States because we don’t want Al Qaeda to have it, we can't stop a group from developing these tools in Yemen, or in Afghanistan, or any other region of the world and spreading the tools globally.”

PolicyGlobalizationEncryption2016Surveillance State
Book:Edward Snowden: The Internet Is Broken
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“Either Western or Human (Undoing Westwash Sonnet) When the Brits invade a country, It's called the march of civilization. When refugees arrive in search of life, It's dehumanized as illegal immigration. When America recruits talents from abroad, It is proudly boasted as headhunting. When another nation does exactly the same, It is hailed as espionage and IP stealing. When America spies on everybody else, It is sugarcoated as national security. If someone so much as loses a weather balloon, It is used to gaslight a nation into a frenzy. To see the world as it is, first we gotta take off our western glasses. Look at the human world with human eyes, only then you'll fathom justice and progress.”

International RelationsStereotypesGeopoliticsWhite PrivilegeWhitewashSurveillance StatePolitical PoetryGeopolitical TensionWesternizationWestern Hypocrisy
Book:Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo
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“Either Internet or Privacy (Cybersecurity 101, Sonnet) The purpose of a strong password is not to keep your accounts safe, but to keep your accounts moderately secure against common scammers, however, if you become a target of actual hackers, or a person of interest to the government, have no doubt, your internet activities are already monitored. Paranoia of cybersecurity only ruins sanity, it does nothing to establish security. No technology that's connected to the internet is unhackable, either you can have internet or privacy. So, don't post family pictures online, keep your passwords moderately complex, refrain from consentless content, cloud is the last place to be private.”

InternetSurveillanceHackingCybersecuritySurveillance StateCybercrimeInternet PrivacyOnline PrivacyHacktivismFirewall
Book:Sonnets From The Mountaintop
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“The purpose of a strong password is not to keep your accounts safe, but to keep your accounts moderately secure against common scammers, however, if you become a target of actual hackers, or a person of interest to the government, have no doubt, your internet activities are already monitored.”

InternetSurveillanceHackingCybersecuritySurveillance StateCybercrimeInternet PrivacyOnline PrivacyHacktivismFirewall
Book:Sonnets From The Mountaintop
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“It benefits the LAPD to have the news describe recommendations for lavish new police spending as the judgment of neutral experts. Imagine what it would look like if an "internal" LAPD report or a report by the company selling police spyware had been the one to recommend more money for more spying on protesters in the wake of the LAPD's widespread crimes. The news's portrayal of the commission report about the LAPD as "independent" is an example of how reporting on police violence becomes a stage in the cycle of police violence.”

Civil RightsPolice ReformCopagandaSurveillance StateThe Mafia In BluePolice ViolenceLapdPolice Surveillance
Book:Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News
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“The combination of the growth of these digital technologies, the ability of the government to conjure up these secret interpretations, plus a very unusual and novel court make for this ever-expanding surveillance state. We so treasure our freedoms; we will regret it if our generation doesn't use this unique time to reform the surveillance laws and make it clear that security and liberty are not mutually exclusive. We can do both.”

IfsStatesUseGovernmentLawGrowthCan DoAbilitySecretLibertyTechnologyNovelClearGenerationsSecurityRegretUniqueCourtTreasureReformCombinationDigitalInterpretationPlusUnusualExpandingExclusiveSurveillanceOur GenerationDigital TechnologySurveillance StateSecurity And Liberty
Author:Ron Wyden
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“The domestic NSA-led Surveillance State which Frank Church so stridently warned about has obviously come to fruition. The way to avoid its grip is simply to acquiesce to the nation's most powerful factions, to obediently remain within the permitted boundaries of political discourse and activism. Accepting that bargain enables one to maintain the delusion of freedom - "he who does not move does not notice his chains," observed Rosa Luxemburg - but the true measure of political liberty is whether one is free to make a different choice.”

WayDoeDifferentStatesMovingPoliticalChoicesNationsChurchPowerfulLibertyAcceptingActivismBoundariesChainsDelusionMost PowerfulFrankDiscourseSurveillanceBargainsNsaFactionsFruitionRosaPolitical DiscourseDifferent ChoicesSurveillance State
Author:Glenn Greenwald
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“I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union, for example. He would have closely followed the Arab Spring. And certainly he would be very critical of the massive surveillance state that has emerged in America in the last five to 10 years. He would have approved of the movements trying to gain some accountability in U.S. foreign policy, such as drones being (used) on innocent people. I think he would march against drones.”

PeopleThinkingTryingYearsStatesWould BeLastsAmericaUsedPoorFivePolicyExampleMovementKingsSpringGainsConcernedUnionsTrackJewCriticalInnocentCollectivesTreatmentAccountabilityMarchMassiveSovietForeign PolicySoviet UnionLutherSurveillanceApprovedDronesArab SpringInsurgencySurveillance State
Author:Cornel West
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“Turn off your televisions. Ignore the Newt-Mitt-Rick- Barack reality show. It is as relevant to your life as the gossip on “Jersey Shore.” The real debate, the debate raised by the Occupy movement about inequality, corporate malfeasance, the destruction of the ecosystem, and the security and surveillance state, is the only debate that matters.”

RealMatterStatesShowsRealityTurnsSecurityMovementTelevisionDestructionRaisedDebateInequalityBarackCorporateGossipShoreRelevantJerseySurveillanceEcosystemsTurn OffReality ShowsNewtsJersey ShoreOccupy MovementSurveillance StateMalfeasance
Author:Chris Hedges
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