Sometimes when I get home from my 8 to 5 job I am torn between sitting quietly in my living room with a book reading and sitting quietly in my office with my computer writing. There are only so many hours left in the day before I have to start the inexorable grind all over again, after all. Is it better to fill my head with the insight and knowledge that only reading a new book can bring, or would I be using my time better by taking time to share my opinions on my blog? In other words, is it more important to become more educated or to express one’s own personal opinion?

As it turns out, in my case, since I am a celibate shut-in who lives with four cats, the answer is neither. All that matters is that I just sit here quietly. And perhaps occasionally empty those cat litter boxes. Please.

But, with this recent NSA scandal continuing to brew, I just want to continue to comment upon what is unfolding, as I think it is fascinating.

If you have not read my previous blogpost, (and judging by the statistics WordPress happily accumulates for all of its contributors, you haven’t), I am not a fan of the massive data collection program being undertaken by our government. I would link that post to you here, but I’m incredibly fucking illiterate when it comes to how to do that. So, you know. It’s the next one down. Read it if you want to.

What I’ve noticed is, just as with every other gigantic scandal that has taken place in my lifetime, that the movers and shakers in the opinion world have divided into two camps. A few people who proudly identify themselves as liberal are opposed to the program, or at least suspicious of it. But, of course, the majority seem to be in the “The man who leaked this material is a coward and a traitor and needs to be strung up by his balls” camp.

People: I don’t know if it has occurred to you as forcefully as it occurred to me today, but we are SURROUNDED by the status quo. And, if you’re not careful, the status quo will tell you how to think.

If you are, like me, a simple citizen who has never researched anything deeply or seriously except perhaps lesbian porn, (Editor’s note: My apologies–Laurie is simply trying to maintain your attention, and all the marketing research shows that saying “lesbian porn” is a great way to keep your eyes on the page. Not that she has read any marketing research, being busy watching lesbian porn and all.), and who doesn’t have an advanced degree or a subscription to The Economist, but if you’re also like me in that you like to pretend that you have Educated Opinions about The Issues, then you listen to NPR and read opinion pieces from the most respectable news outlets. Oh, you try to read a variety of people from a variety of sources but, if you want to be Taken Seriously, then you read mainstream views from Respected Columnists. The Status Quo, in other words.

This, of course, means that you are at risk of thinking exactly what the status quo wants you to think. So please be careful.

As best as I can gather, so far, virtually all opinion makers who wish to be viewed as either moderate or right of center are firmly on the side of the government on this issue. That fact alone should give anyone trying to make their mind up about this scandal pause.

The basic defense of this massive invasion of privacy seems to be this: a)3000 people died on 9/11; b)this isn’t hurting anyone; c)Americans want their government to do anything and everything (within reason, which this clearly is) to stop terrorism.

And to that I respond: what happens when the next successful terroristic attack occurs? (And it will.) What will we agree to endure then from the government, in the name of preventing terrorism? Embedded microchips? Why not? I mean, if scooping up every foreign telephone call and every email, (and every blogpost), isn’t enough to stop terrorism, (and it won’t be), then maybe we need to think of some more invasive methods. We all want to remain safe, right? You don’t have anything to hide. In fact, why DON’T we have embedded microchips already?

As to the defense that this isn’t hurting anyone, that this isn’t a big deal because no ones’ rights have been violated, I would simply like to point out that WE DON’T FUCKING KNOW THAT. I mean, call me Einstein, but we don’t. We have absolutely no idea if anyone’s life has been affected by this. And all those movers and shakers, those opinion makers, those erudite journalists who have come out so quickly to say that this hasn’t hurt anyone? They realize it, too. They are fully aware that they don’t have all the details. They have no clue whether or not people have been unfairly railroaded into accepting guilty pleas for terrorist activities because of this program. That doesn’t seem to stop them from asserting as quickly as they possibly can that “no ones’ rights have been violated.” If they were taking their roles as journalists seriously, they would ask that question first, and frequently, until they got definitive answers. If they weren’t simply propagandists for the Status Quo, they would hesitate before leaping up to assert that the Constitution is safe. But, they didn’t hesitate. Because propaganda has to strike while the iron is hot. They have to jump out in front of the issue, to quash dissent, to control the story, to manipulate public opinion. Which is exactly what they are doing.

I have read inane comments such as “Google has all of your information, why shouldn’t the government?” I mean, I don’t know, let me think about it. Hmm. Wow. The answer came so lightning quick to my brain before I even had a chance to prepare myself for the answer that I don’t know if I’ll be able to dictate it properly. But lemme give it a shot:

BECAUSE GOOGLE CAN’T PROSECUTE YOU AND EXECUTE YOU OR IMPRISON YOU FOR LIFE IF THEY DEEM YOU TO BE AN ENEMY OF THE STATE.

Is the easy answer.

But maybe the government having the power to do that is not something we take seriously. Which in and of itself should scare the shit out of any citizen anxious to prevent Totalitarian Creep.

The status quo is powerful. If you’re an opinion maker for a national news outlet or webpage, you adore the status quo. Oh, you’ll occasionally say something to get under some politician’s skin…but it’s all theatre. You create your drama to create tiny stirs and to boost ratings or page views, but all of it is essentially designed simply to…to maintain the status quo. It’s quite a beautifully well-oiled machine. Complain about Politician A. Defend Politician B. Demand Politician C resign! immediately. But…when the shit truly hits the fan and the entire political apparatus is being threatened…then you circle the wagons, by God, and protect ALL of the politicians. Whatever you have to do to keep getting invited to those cocktail parties. Keep sipping scotch with the policy makers, and laugh at all of us lesbian porn watching, (Editor’s note: That was me this time, actually. Laurie was droning on. I needed to punch it up a bit.), uneducated, idiots who aren’t smart enough to realize how the world really works.

So, as this scandal swirls around you, ask yourself, as you either try to ignore it or formulate an opinion of your own: Is this really how I think? Or is the status quo massaging me to think this way?

I, for one, say fuck the squares.

The status quo is NOT always ideal. Part of freedom means fighting the power. Americans are so passive it frightens me. Anyone who has read 1984 is familiar with the concept of an all-powerful government…but we seem decidedly undisturbed when we are presented evidence that it is actually happening. What’s ironic is that, anyone who has the slightest remembrance of history knows that the country was appalled in the 1970s when it was discovered that the FBI had files on thousands of innocent people: Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, gay rights activists, etc. We were once so appalled by that overreach that we put strict rules in place to limit those kinds of intrusions. Keeping the government in line used to be important to us. This generation, though, seems to yearn for a police state. I see very little evidence that people are resistant to the idea. All because 19 criminals did something terrible one day in 2001.

There was one opinion maker from China who seemed to recognize the great power that America is exhibiting. He pointed out that when people feel like everything they are thinking is being monitored by the state, creativity and ingenuity die. People begin to self-censor in an effort to avoid scrutiny. And he only had to point to his homeland for evidence.

But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. David Brooks says it’s fine.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some litter boxes to clean.

And lesbian porn to watch.