The surveillance state is an outcropping of the Fourth Branch of Government, which is, essentially, the unelected intelligence community in control of our government.
The surveillance state comes from the creation of the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) which is an entirely inward-looking agency. Prior to the Patriot Act, the surveillance sweep searching for terror threats focused outward, looking outside the U.S borders. The Patriot Act took the surveillance sweep a full 360 degrees and looked inside the Homeland for terror threats. Hence, DHS was created.
The office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was also created by the Patriot Act, and was specifically created as the pivot point to combine the surveillance sweeps. The Pentagon and CIA intel agencies sweeping outside the U.S. and the DHS sweeping inside the U.S.
It was the creation of The Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) that destroyed what remained of privacy protections within the constitution (4th amendment). Americans are no longer secure in their ‘papers and effects’, nor protected by the ‘probable cause’ need for warrants. The erosion of the 4th amendment was absolutely connected to the creation of DHS; there is zero doubt about this cause and effect.
With the ODNI and DHS created, the sub-silos of the surveillance state then began. The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) is one agency within the Dept of Homeland Security that was an outcome. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also gained massive tools within this new system.
The key point behind all of this context is what I refer to as the ‘Surveillance State.’ American citizens have lost all privacy protections within this new system of surveillance, that has extended far beyond even what most people fathom.
When you understand the root origin of the Surveillance State, then the discussion turns to what we have accepted within its creation, and what is the current status of American Liberty as an outcome of it.
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