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by tgcordell 4269 days ago
I have a notion that you are not a natural born American citizen. Please, don't hold it against me if this assumption is wrong, but its the first thing that springs to my mind by your confusion proposed.

I (and many others) view the government as a service by the people, for the people. It should adhere to the same laws and constraints that the people do in order to be kept in check and not all-powerful. One of these regulations is that citizens have powerful rights of ownership over their personal belongings and no one should be able to rifle through them without permission. Objects/data/articles/ideas can be held private for a multitude of reasons, and due process should be followed in order to gain access to these details. By removing the government's requirement to abide by this, you grant it an immense power to control and have knowledge of your life. That simply isn't necessary for the true function of government. Our original constitution and amendments attempted to protect its citizens from that fear.
1 comments
gear54rus 4269 days ago
You are correct, I am not an American citizen at all :) I guess what you said is true for any government but does it really matter? They get what they want in the end. Be it Alexander, FBI or someone from my country.
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tgcordell 4269 days ago
I view that form of thinking as a very slippery slope. The government should get what it wants, but what it wants should be defined by the people. Currently, in the HN community, the view of what the government is doing and what the rules are aren't aligned. Thus, we are pushing for rectification. We've got to take a stand somewhere. That's the only way progress is made.
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walterbell 4269 days ago
> "They get what they want in the end"

There is no "they". There are individuals who influence each other, each of whom may change their position depending on the position of others. History is replete with the consequences of changes inspired by advisers to advisers of leadership.

There is no guarantee that you can influence outcomes, but it is exceedingly likely that if you believe that you cannot influence outcomes, then you will not.

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