The Real Reason We Need to Revamp NSA Surveillance Programs

I don’t usually go super political on here, but with the recent revelations concerning the NSA’s activities, as well as all the legal issues starting to arise from them, I feel a need to voice my opinions.  Like everyone else, I have a lot of concern over the surveillance programs run by the NSA.  At the very least, they are so broad that they vastly overreach, and some of them at worst are clear violations of domestic law, the United States Constitution and international laws and treaties.  The response I often hear is that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about, that they are doing this only to keep the country safe from terrorism.  While I agree that their motive is not inherently bad, their execution has been.  But I see a problem far beyond the flagrant violation of laws and treaties, and I’m as disturbed by it as I am that no one has mentioned it yet.  The problem I see is that this spying is creating an atmosphere of distrust that we haven’t seen since the cold war.  As a result, all that we have worked for since World War I is in danger of being lost.

In recent months, we have learned a great deal about just what the NSA is doing, largely through the tens of thousands of pages leaked by Edward Snowden.  While I don’t condone his actions, I don’t condemn them either because he was trying to bring attention to what he believed were brazenly illegal actions.  The legality of said actions is beyond the scope of this post, but the content and motive behind them is what needs to be paid attention to.  Now, much of what was revealed was not actually that shocking, at least to me.  I’d known since the Patriot Act was passed (I will refrain from opining on this law, suffice it to say that I consider it one of the worst pieces of legislation in my lifetime) that much of our digital communications were being collected and read.   We have engaged in a great deal of international surveillance as well, such as wiretapping the phones of those making international calls to certain areas and monitoring international emails.  In recent weeks, it came out that this went beyond ordinary citizens, all the way up to world leaders, such as the chancellor of Germany. 

Now, spying on foreign neighbors is certainly nothing new.  Frankly, we’ve been spying on one another for as long as societies have existed.  But look at the way we have related to one another as a result of such activity.  There is always some degree of mistrust which, when combined with our apparently natural lust for things we can’t have, often leads to varying degrees of fighting.  Virtually every war ever waged has been born of some combination of these factors, not to mention the nasty assumption that we’re right and everyone else is wrong.  But we can’t keep living this way, especially if we want to be civilized as we claim to be, because we will never have a unified world if we do not stop with this distrust.

Given the horrible things countries have done to each other over the centuries, we do seem to have reason to mistrust each other.  But why on earth would we want to give ourselves even more reason to distrust each other?  I believe that this was one of Woodrow Wilson’s motives behind his idea for the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations.  He knew that we needed a forum in which we could discuss our concerns so that we could better understand them.  Prior to the LoN and the UN, countries largely reacted in a knee-jerk manner to the actions and inactions of other countries, which could easily fuel tensions and lead to war.  But by having this forum we could begin to build a more united world.  Unfortunately, as many have observed, neither of these institutions have worked particularly well (the LoN in particular is regarded as an utter failure), but it is not because they are not powerful organizations (although there is something to be said for the lack of power the UN sometimes seems to have).  It is because we still have such complete distrust in each other.

In order to understand just what distrust can do to the relationships between countries, we need look no further than the Cold War, specifically the McCarthyism of the 1950s.  We became obsessed that the Soviet Union was plotting a means of destroying us (whether or not this is actually true is not the subject of this blog, so I will not opine on that.  This is a blog of fact, not conspiracy theories.) that we started spying not only on them, but on our own citizens.  The entire country was consumed by what most people now regard as a mass hysteria.  Unknown numbers of people were accused of being communist or communist sympathizers.  Many were dragged before committees and unjustly accused and sometimes imprisoned or worse.  Yet there was no legitimate basis for this; just the paranoia of Joseph McCarthy.  The nightmare endured by the country at the time was entirely of our own construction.

Many people have drawn parallels between McCarthyism and the actions taken by our government in the decade since 9/11.  Although we are not even remotely close to being that paranoid, the potential is certainly there.  Moreover, many of the actions taken are disturbingly reminiscent of those taken during the 1950s.  Our government is spying on its own citizens illegally by collecting massive amounts of metadata.  Many minorities, both individuals and organizations run by them, have been targeted simply because of their ethnicity.  Federal agencies are continually trying to find new ways to track people physically and digitally.  Yet every time someone tries to bring these concerns to a courtroom, the case ends up being quashed due to concerns over national security.

These actions, as we saw during the 1950s, breed a great deal of distrust.  However, this is not limited to just citizens of one country.  In the 1950s, the Soviet Union was easily as terrified of us as we were of them simply because of the way we behaved toward each other.   I fear that we could see a repeat of this paranoia today if government surveillance programs are not reigned in; we have already seen some damage to our relations with Germany after the NSA was caught tapping the phone line of their Chancellor.  Continuing to behave in this manner will only drive bigger wedges into our foreign relations, further dividing the world instead of unifying it.  Think of it like Facebook stalking someone; although you may find out interesting and pertinent information about them, there is a strong likelihood that you will do irreparable harm to their relationship, possibly destroying it in the process.

Now, to be fair, these programs were created to protect people from potential dangers.  Certainly we need to take steps to ensure safety, and in all likelihood these programs have created some degree of benefit, but at what point does cost outweigh benefit?  We have seen a gradual erosion of rights, mostly those that traditionally fall under the Fourth Amendment, for the sake of protecting the country.  The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution in an attempt to prevent this; they had seen such actions in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. The only reason the Bill of Rights was even put in was because there was great fear that without it, the government would never respect the rights of the States and the people.  Yet now, we appear to be fulfilling exactly what they feared.

Several years ago, there was a mediocre film called “Eagle Eye” that explored this concept.  While the plot was rather ludicrous, it did come with a message that while trying to protect people and our freedoms, we sometimes go too far.  Many of the programs enacted by the Patriot Act are an example of this; in an effort to protect our freedom, they are in fact quashing it.  At that point, the threat is from within, not without.

Instead of succumbing to paranoia that the world is out to get us, we need to start trusting each other.  This is, of course, far easier said than done, but as long as we continue down the current path, we will only continue alienating people.  The Cold War raged for decades simply because both sides were convinced that the other side wanted to nuke them into oblivion.  Yet when we started talking, both sides were able to disarm and eventually become allies.  No two countries have to like each other in the slightest, but if we stop alienating each other, we can slowly build up an atmosphere of trust.

Fortunately, there are already signs of hope.  The Courts are becoming less tolerant of surveillance programs.  President Obama seems to have noticed that the agencies executing these programs need more oversight and, where possible, a bit more transparence.  Most of all, people have taken to the internet and social media to show their disgust.  I contend that this factor is the most important because in the digital age, nothing can stay quiet for long.  Information travels farther and faster than ever before, meaning people are now better informed and connected (although there is something to be said for the damage this seems to wreak on interpersonal communications; however, that is a subject fit for an entire blog post in itself) than ever before.

This interconnectedness shows how we as a country, a member of the global community, and as a species must grow.  I have often compared us as a species to being teenagers; we are arrogant, petty and bigoted.  We believe that we know better than everyone else.  Most of all, we believe that those who disagree with us are not only wrong, but also are automatically our enemies.  But we can no longer cling to the paranoid, xenophobic attitudes we have had for thousands of years.  Instead, we must begin to foster trust and respect with each other, on all levels.  As that trust begins to grow, we will see that there was never a reason to be so petty and suspicious of each other.

Just as a person grows out of their adolescence and eventually matures, so too will humanity.  Then, and only then, will we be able to see that none of our aberrant behavior was really warranted; as the saying goes, someday we’ll look back and laugh.

Genealogy For The Future

Genealogy, the study of one’s familial roots, is a fascinating subject. I have spent nearly seven years researching my own roots and have built a considerably large family tree, with some branches going back hundreds of years. However, just like any other genealogist, I have made some mistakes along the way. It’s easy to find data that looks correct but is in fact completely unrelated, especially when it comes to things like family stories. Moreover, there are often gaps in historical records due to lost documentation. As a result, I sometimes wonder just how much I actually know about my ancestors.


Recently, I found a new perspective on this question of how accurate our genealogical knowledge is. At the time, I was watching an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager”, one of my favorite shows; the episode in question involved the crew sharing stories of their heritage. Most of the episode revolves around the story of Captain Janeway’s ancestor, Shannon Janeway née O’Donnell, and the fact that most of the family lore surrounding this ancestor is entirely wrong. At the end of the episode, she pontificates with her crew on how much successive generations will know about them and how much of that information will be correct. That got me wondering: how much information will be left about my life for my descendants?


I admit that this line of thought is not something that often enters the mind of a genealogist. By its very definition, genealogy is about studying the past, not the future. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to make sure that I pass on not only information I’ve obtained on the family tree, but on myself as well. Some might say this seems selfish or arrogant, the kind of thinking we’d expect from an Egyptian pharaoh. But I’m not trying to live after death. I simply want to make sure that my descendants know who I was, what kind of man I was. After all, isn’t the entire point of genealogy remembering the past?


After considering these thoughts for a while, I have decided that I would like to preserve information about my life for those who come after. I want to ensure that, regardless of what people say, my story in my own words can still be around. Granted, I don’t have children yet, but I intend to have them one day when I meet the right woman. But even if I never have children of my own, I can at least leave this information for the descendants of my brothers and cousins. So now the question becomes what information do I leave?


Certainly, I want to leave my family tree so that future generations know where they came from and who came before them. But what personal information do I leave? From the perspective of a genealogist, I tend to think that the obvious things would be information on my birth, residency and any marriages I might have. However, as useful as those things are, I know from experience that you can’t really connect to a person when all you have is statistics. Of all the ancestors I have traced, I only connect to the few that I have found biographical information on. But published biographies are almost always, shall we say, sanitized. If there is to be a biography on me, I want it written by my own hand. I don’t want to gloss over the nasty spots. But still, the question of content remains.


My thinking is that I should write something along the lines of essays or journals, starting with a narrative of my life to date. From there, I will continue writing as my life unfolds; hopefully I’ll have at least another sixty years or so to put in there. But do I put every mundane detail in, or include only the important things? Surely the latter, as I would simply bore people otherwise (not that my life is that terribly exciting anyway). On the other hand, sometimes the things we consider mundane are what give others the best insight into who we are. As a genealogist, some of the best things to find are old letters and diaries, so why shouldn’t I leave something like that for my descendants?


Looking at it in that light suggests that in addition to writing my story, I should also leave heirlooms because they are a vital part of my story. Anything I write, no matter how hard a try, will likely have gaps due to the fact that I simply don’t remember everything. Other things are hazy, so I may not remember them accurately. Heirlooms can help to fill in these gaps for a more complete story of my life. I have always regretted the fact that, aside from old letters and cards my grandmother has kept from over the years (few of which I have actually seen), we have few family heirlooms. However, the few we have are truly amazing treasures nonetheless; I have always particularly loved the 200+ year old grandfather clock made by my five-times great-grandfather (for those not familiar with this abbreviation, it means my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). As I am young, I don’t have many things that I would want to see passed on, but that is also partially due to the fact that we live in the age of computers. Much of the work I do, such as writing these blog posts and working on musical compositions, is done on a computer. So how does one pass on files on a computer?


I believe the answer to this is that I need to create some kind of interactive database containing all my digital files. This, however, is considerably easier said than done; although I am a skilled coder when it comes to web design, the only programming languages I have any skill with are rather antiquated (Long live Basic!). Unfortunately, this is not a question I can really answer here as it will require a great deal of thought and planning, not to mention learning new skills. But whatever I design, it must be vast so that it can accommodate not only the things I create, but also the treasures I have uncovered on my genealogical quest. Over seven years of research, I have acquired hundreds of pages of documents regarding my family tree as well as thousands upon thousands of family photos, almost all of which have been digitized (I have digitized everything currently in my possession, but am always trying to borrow photos from family members so that I can preserve them); while most of the photos were taken within the last 30-40 years, I have many hundreds of photos that date back years, even decades before that. I currently use Picasa to share them with family members as I get them organized into albums, but I want to find a more permanent solution so that they are accessible and preserved.


Before I go on, I’m sure some people are no doubt wondering why the heck someone as young as I am is concerned with preserving the story of his life and those that came before him. Rest assured that I am not suicidal nor do I believe my life will end anytime soon; frankly, if my family tree is any indication, I’ll probably live into my nineties. But that research has also showed that in so many cases, so little is known about a person due simply to a lack of records or documentation. With most of my ancestors, I’m fortunate to know their names and dates of birth and death due to the fact that most of them were desperately poor and wouldn’t have had the means to leave many records. I don’t want this to be the case after I’m gone and, honestly, I hope that most people think about this at some point. But I don’t want to wait until I’m old and gray to start writing my story. I want to start now while I can still remember my early years.


So my plan stands thus: I will write my story so that it is preserved and I will design some kind of a database so that all the research and photos I have accrued can also be preserved. But this project is not meant to be finished at any given time; I will add to both as much as I can. Any new research or photos will immediately go into the database and I will continue writing down events as I see fit. Here’s where the one caveat is: because I intend to include everything of substance about my life, I will be writing this by hand (I actually tend to prefer writing by hand anyway) due to the fact that there are things that I am simply not yet ready to make public, although I suspect that time is closer than I think.


Frankly, re-reading that last sentence makes me think that this project could actually be rather therapeutic for me. Though I appear to be confident and well put-together, I still have many things about myself that I dislike, things that I need to work on. There are things in my past that I don’t think I’ve ever really come to terms with, regardless of the fact that they had an enormous impact in shaping the man I am. My soul is whole and strong, but it’s covered in bruises and stains, but by writing my story, perhaps I can begin to finally heal some of those injuries instead of sealing them away in the depths of my memory. After all, putting something behind you is only part of the healing process. While it sometimes takes a while, I am generally pretty good at eventually finding a way past things, but as I grow older, I’ve begun to realize the impact that things can have on a person’s soul. Yes, I’ve managed to keep my life going, but there are still things that must be faced and I think it’s high time I began to address some of these issues, at least in private.


While I am unsure of when, if ever, these writings will be released, I am writing about it here both to use this blog as a sounding board for refining the idea and so that others might become more interested in their own genealogy. Studying your roots has a kind of gratification that can’t be put into words. You will find both wonders and dark spots on your quest. Family lore may be proven right or wrong or somewhere in between. But it is always worth it; to see just how amazing it can be, watch “Who Do You Think You Are?” on TLC on Tuesdays or any of the mini-series that Henry Louis Gates Jr. has done for PBS over the years. I recently began writing my own blog (initially for a class project, but I’m planning to keep using it; feel free to visit it at lookingforyourroots.wordpress.com) in order to share tips and tricks so that people can research their own trees. My idea to preserve my own story was born entirely out of my love for genealogy. One of my biggest hopes is that I can inspire people to begin studying their own family trees.



We are who we are because of everyone that came before us. Knowing about our own history helps us better understand the present and plan the future. Isn’t that a journey worth going on?