I want to take a moment and address an issue that not many people may be aware of in regards to government surveillance of this nature. I have a lot of friends with serious mental illnesses, namely schizophrenia, bipolar, and other related illnesses. These people have taken years, sometimes decades, of their lives trying to recover, and some have been extremely successful and productive citizens while others are still struggling to cope. In recent months, I have seen some of the most well adjusted, non-symptomatic individuals of over 10 years progressively get worse and worse. Some have had to be hospitalized. When you have paranoid conspiracy theories that you're being watched by, let's say the government and aliens, and it's not true, being told it's not true and working through things, dealing with medication and therapy... all I can say is that these people have been through some serious issues and made it out great. These news articles on government surveillance are proving their government conspiracy theories to be largely true. As a result, some of these individuals are jumping right back on the bandwagon in regards to alien conspiracies, which is completely unfair. The American people are concerned about their privacy, and rightly so. I don't think the American people or the US government are considering what it is doing to the mental health of previously well adjusted individuals. According to NIMH (National Institute for Mental Health) the numbers are as follows: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-America/index.shtml These two are directly related to people who are concerned about their privacy on the internet: Paranoia and mood disorders cross over a lot more than you might realize as well: If you weren't aware of the numbers, this is a lot of people. Their mental health is deteriorating due to illegal government surveillance. This needs to stop not only for privacy reasons, but for public health reasons. Tor is something that has helped these individuals stay sane for longer. These people are not extremists, they are dealing with mental illness. It should not be considered an extreme philosophy to want privacy. Go to Menards or Walmart or something, how many house related items are directly marketed to promote your privacy? Window shades and blinds come to mind here. Are we supposed to live in transparent houses? Why is it okay to want privacy in your home but not on the internet? This isn't a new concept, either. The Privacy Act was implemented in 1974. The Freedom of Information Act was implemented in 1982. Privacy is something that humans desire by human nature. Some more than others.Approximately 2.4 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year have schizophrenia.
Approximately 15 million American adults age 18 and over, or about 6.8 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have social phobia.
Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder.
Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
Two years ago I went through 8 months of psychosis brought on by marijuana and dealt with this paranoia. I would sometimes spend an hour a day or longer typing belligerent messages to the CIA and NSA in my browser bar and hitting enter, cause I figured the resulting search was being stored and watched. And then I'd go to my closet to make sure the people who could see through my walls wouldn't be able to watch and laugh at me, and cry myself to sleep. The flipside to your comment is that I feel a little more vindicated and sane. If I was a real schizophrenic, my reaction might be the spiral you describe. But I feel that a lot of conspiracy theorists might be a little relieved to have their fears confirmed on some level.
This is frightening white, I had a slight sigh of relief reading that it was two years ago and I hope you're not experiencing that anymore.Two years ago I went through 8 months of psychosis brought on by marijuana
Just to be clear, you mean that you struggled with psychosis in the past and use of marijuana triggered it again?
Nope, I had never struggled with psychosis prior to that event and I haven't really struggled with it since, aside from the fact that I still believe the delusions I was experiencing. Or rather, I attribute it to gaslighting which is terrifying itself. Google gaslighting and read some of the stuff people post about it on forums. It's a fucking AWFUL way to experience life. I do feel part of it was PTSD and reintegration into civilian life. Some of my most humiliating moments happened during it all, like going door to door in my apartment complex and asking people if they were talking about me. Being outside for a cigarette when I heard a neighbor and his friend playing with the gun he had bought that day. He was on the third floor, so I stood at ground level beneath his balcony and yelled up at him for 30 minutes. Stuff like "YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUGH BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GUN?" and "NOBODY IS AFRAID OF YOU!" A bunch of the neighbors came out to talk to me because wtf was happening, and I just told them "it's just a little confrontation..." nonchalantly. Truthfully, I was trying to get him to step outside and shoot me. Equally embarrassing was apologizing to the guy the next day, but he would always nod with respect whenever I saw him after that because I told him I was in the military and that it was PTSD that set me off. The brain is fucking terrifying when it gets out of whack.
I'm sorry to hear that man, I think we've had this conversation before but you only foster more respect from me when you talk about this, even though obviously you're talking about seriously scary challenges in your life. Anyway, I'm glad it's in the past tense and thank you for talking about it. This whole realm of psychosis, paranoia etc. is becoming really interesting to me but I don't want to listen to what a jaded, arrogant doctorate in psychology has to say about how entire groups of people work, think, and feel when he himself has experienced none of it. Good to learn from experience, relating it all back to the army :)
I have a close relative with schizophrenia. He is very functional but also very paranoid. I'm not trying to demean your point in any way because I think it's a significant externality of spying, but my family member has probably on balance found comfort in the recent realization. "See, I told you so!"