NSA: Memory Holes and Constant Monitoring

1107 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: georges orwell dystopian society

“And so it was with every class of recorded fact, great or small. Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain.”
― George Orwell, 1984

The novel 1984 by George Orwell is prophetical. Exemplifying a submissiveness towards and idolization of authoritarian governments, Orwell presents the status of modern society in 1984. Events surrounding Edward Snowden illustrate Orwell’s concept of memory holes - the series of tubing that scraps of papers are sent to to be destroyed. The American government’s attempts to obscure and divert attention away from the NSA scandal typify the mindset cultivating in modern times.
A Google search of “Edward Snowden” will come up with questions of where the ‘whistleblower’ is now, theories of whether or not he is in Russia, or what the US has planned for him. While the documents he released are floating around the internet, the focus of many articles are on him. Attention has diverted from the NSA to Snowden, creating serious ramifications. When people focus more on the man who leaked the information, they are focusing less on the information leaked. Regardless of the ad hominem aspect, the concerns should have already bubbled over in 2006. An NBC News article by Eileen Sullivan reported on November 19, 2013: “According to court records from 2009, after repeated assurances the NSA would obey the court's rules, it acknowledged that it had collected material improperly... the government said its violations were caused by ‘poor management, lack of involvement by compliance officials and lack of internal verification procedures, not by bad faith.’” And while reports came out of those issues in 2009, hostilities towards the NSA were quickly forg...

... middle of paper ...

...uppert, Julian. "We Should Look at the Content of the Snowden Files – Not the Messenger." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Dec. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. .
Maurer, Al. "Why the NSA PRISM Program Should Terrify America." Washington Times. N.p., 25 Aug. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. .
Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.
Sullivan, Eileen. "NSA Reported Its Own Violations to Intelligence Court in 2009, Files Show." NBC News. Associated Press, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. .

Show More
Related

  • 1984 a Novel by George Orwell

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.

    Read More

  • Glenn Greenwald and Violations of American Privacy

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Glenn Greenwald, a talented and widely read columnist on civil liberties for the Guardian newspaper, failed in his attempt to alarm his readers to the flagrant and widespread violations of American privacy. Although his article was full of facts, documentation, and quotes from top rank officials, the article did not convey any sense of wrong doing or outrage. Rather it was dull, lacked passion and a sense of persuasion. In fact, the only attention grabbing part in the whole article is the title.

    Read More

  • The NSA, Privacy and the War or Terrorism

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    The people’s apprehensiveness does not come from the government’s ability to monitor their phone calls. It is the idea that they are listening to their individual conversations. The government needs to communicate to its citizens on the capabilities of the program. Most of the information on the limits of PRISM has come from the data leaks of Edward Snowden. The common consensus is that the government is able to access information by merely advising a meeting with a judge that is not withheld to the public. However, contrary to the popular belief that they are listening to phone calls, they are merely collecting the date and length of each phone call (Stray).

    Read More

  • Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    After September 11th, Americans looked to the government for protection and reassurance. However, they did not expect to find out thirteen years later that the government did this by using technology to spy on Americans, as well as other countries. George W. Bush began the policy shortly after the terrorist attack and Barack Obama continued it. There have been many confrontations over the years about the extent of the N.S.A.’s spying; however, the most recent whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, leaked information that caused much upset throughout America (EFF). It has also brought many people to question: is he a hero or a traitor?

    Read More

  • Edward Snowden: A Traitor Of Edward Snowden

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    In May of 2013 Edward Snowden who was then working at a National Security Agency office in Oahu, Hawaii began copying top secret documents that belonged to the American government as he believed the documentation contained unethical and immoral content that he believed the American people and the world in general needed to know about. (Snowden, 2014) The documentation that he collated contained information regarding projects such as Prism, which is a top secret NSA surveillance program that has the ability to access the data servers of some of America's large...

    Read More

  • US Government Monitoring Its Citizens

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    In early June 2013, Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former defense contractor who had access to NSA database while working for an intelligence consulting company, leaked classified documents reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is recording phone calls of millions of Americans along with gathering private data and spying foreign Internet activity. The Washington Post later broke the news disclosed PRISM, a program can collect data on Internet users. The leaked documents publicly stated a vast objection. Many people were shocked by the scale of the programs, even elected representatives were unaware of the surveillance range. A nationwide debate over privacy rights have been sparked. Although supporters claim that the NSA only does its best to protect the United States from terrorists as well as respecting Americans' rights and privacy, many civil rights advocates feel that the government failed to be clear about the limit of the surveillance programs, threatening Americans' civil...

    Read More

  • Brainwashing of Constituents in George Orwell's "1984"

    3231 Words  | 7 Pages

    These examples display the inevitable fact that all over the world subtle but significant events are taking place that appear to signify a shifting toward a totalitarian government, much like the one present in 1984. This is extremely disturbing because most people will agree that the life lived by the characters in 1984, is not one of any value. Though they are “protected” from several of the problems that many of the free world citizens and officials face, they have no control over their thoughts or actions. This leads to unbearable uniformity. It is chilling to know that though George Orwell’s book was written as fiction, portions of it are becoming factual.

    Read More

  • The Dystopian Society in George Orwell's Novel 1984

    476 Words  | 1 Pages

    Even though many of Orwell’s ideas in his novel 1984 seemed completely fictional, several of the concepts throughout his book have a common link to today’s society. For instance in the same way telescreens monitor people every second of their li...

    Read More

  • Edward Snowden: An American Hero

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.

    Read More

  • The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

    2043 Words  | 5 Pages

    STEPHEN BRAUN, A. F. (2014, May 9). Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure. The big story, p. 1.

    Read More

  • George Orwell's 1984 and Today

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.

    Read More

  • 1984 vs Today

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Web. 4 Dec. 2013. Calamur, Krishnadev. A.P.S. & B.A.S. 5 Things To Know About The NSA's Surveillance Activities. NPR.com - "The New York Times" NPR, n.d. -

    Read More

  • Essay On Lack Of Privacy In 1984

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ultimately, common ideas found in the novel 1984, totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy are also ubiquitous in modern society and government. Big Brother and modern day government have been able to control its citizens through surveillance equipment, and fear all for a little more power. There is much to learn from such an undesirable form of society much like the one of Oceania in 1984. Examining Big Brother government closely, alarming connections can be made to real-world government actions in the United States and the cruel world within Orwell's book.

    Read More

  • Edward Snowden: Traitor or Whistleblower

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Edward Snowden

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.

    Read More

More about NSA: Memory Holes and Constant Monitoring

Open Document