[PavlovsCat]

> I don't see a way to avoid it happening

Civil society outnumbers spooks by how much, and who needs who, who is paying for who? Simply withdrawing support and tax money could end it rather quickly.

I can't tell you how to organize people to do that, but it could actually just happen anytime, just a fluke, everybody wakes up in the morning and thinks enough is enough. High-tech requires constant, expensive maintenance, It's not like, say, a giant stone structure you can leave unattended for a few years or even decades.

[carapace]

> who needs who

We need them. That's why we pay them.

> everybody wakes up in the morning and thinks enough is enough.

And then? Do they tear down the machines and all the "spooks" are tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail? How do the farm animals know the pigs are not becoming humans? ("Animal Farm" reference, in case it's not clear.) How do you know bad guys aren't building and using spook-tech?

For example, do the drug cartels voluntarily give up their gear in this scenario?

[PavlovsCat]

> And then? Do they tear down the machines and all the "spooks" are tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail?

How is that relevant? I refuted the claim that nothing can be done.

[carapace]

For the sake of argument, let's say I'm wrong and you're right: ubiquitous surveillance is a genie that can be re-bottled.

You still aren't addressing my main point: How do we know, going forward, that no one is rubbing that lamp? Someone has to guard the lamp, eh?

Unless you're postulating some sort of post-historical world-wide Golden Age (which I am down to discuss!) there are still going to be people smart enough and wicked enough to use tech to spy and connive, etc.