Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 7 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 12/10/09

Google's CEO Offers 'Blame the Victim Argument' for Technological Police State

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   4 comments
Message Grant Lawrence
"If you have something that you don't want people to know, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place"

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, says that if you have something to hide then maybe you shouldn't be doing it.

Yep that sounds good and simple, don't do anything wrong and then you don't have to worry about it.

However, the Google CEO has a bit of a past that he didn't want people to know about.

".... he blacklisted CNET for publishing info about him gleaned from Google searches, including salary, neighborhood, hobbies and political donations. In that case, the married CEO must not mind all the coverage of his various reputed girlfriends; it's odd he doesn't clarify what's going on with the widely-rumored extramarital dalliances, though....."Source: Gawker.com

We all have private moments in which we don't want everyone knowing what we are doing and such is human nature. Few of us can make the claim to sainthood, and even then we don't know how saintly the saints were.

Would any of us want anyone to invade their private thoughts, even if it were in the interest of Google to make big bucks off those thoughts?

Hey wait a minute, if you don't want people to know your private thoughts then maybe you shouldn't be thinking them.

But just because you don't want Google, the government, phone companies, and every other large societal structure spying on your every move doesn't mean that you are doing anything that bad. Perhaps it is that people really don't like that they are being spied upon.

Today, however, we live in a technological police state that makes excuses for its excesses by blaming those that are spied upon for wanting privacy.

Although the constitution doesn't mention specifically the right to privacy,

"....the Supreme Court decisions over the years have established that the right to privacy is a basic human right, and as such is protected by virtue of the 9th Amendment. The right to privacy has come to the public's attention via several controversial Supreme Court rulings, including several dealing with contraception (the Griswold and Eisenstadt cases), interracial marriage (the Loving case), and abortion (the well-known Roe v Wade case). In addition, it is said that a right to privacy is inherent in many of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, such as the 3rd, the 4th's search and seizure limits, and the 5th's self-incrimination limit....Source: Unconstitution.Net

But it is in the business interest's of CEO Schmidt to blame the public for wanting privacy, what is more incredible is that people seem to accept the argument even though they are the targets of the invasive spying.

Obviously, there is a host of abuses that arise from invasion of privacy. Those people that serve democracy by being opponents to government and corporate abuses are tracked and neutralized by disinformation, harassment, and even arrest arising from private information gathered. The law can be twisted to go after just about anyone with even a little information. Also those that are not even political or socially motivated are tracked and can be fired from work for out of work activities, or can be taken out of the hiring process simply because of our credit or our appearances on Facebook.

Although we have no real rights to privacy here in corporately controlled America, we not only should expect privacy but we should demand laws and prosecution of those that violate it.

Recently, President Obama and the Federal government have admitted in court that the telephone companies are an arm of the government when it comes to spying on the American people.

So spying on Americans wasn't just an aberration of the deranged despot George W.Bush. Rather, the spying continues today under President Obama' leadership.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Grant Lawrence Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

I am a progressive.

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Whatever Happened to Nazi Synthetic Gas and Oil Technology? Scarcity Scams Examined

Death Panels Already Exist, They are Called Corporate Health Insurance Bureaucrats

The Most Important Development of the 20th Century: "The Coming of Buddhism to the West"

Why I Appreciate Atheists

American Southwest Geoglyphs--a Message to Ancient UFO Visitors?

Hannity's Hoaxes: The Uncharitable Scamming of the Gullible

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend