> That's because even if you did follow the NSA, you assumed they spied on foreign government officials, "bad guys," not _everyone_. That's the source of the surprise.
I've been as confused as Andreessen about the fact that there's been such a huge outcry (which is great per se) after decades of complacency. For those of us who found the NSA to be despicable before Snowden's leaks, I feel like there was just a feeling of resignation that people just didn't care (even in tech circles like HN). It was a similar feeling to
thinking about climate change in the late 90s/00s. I considered what you're describing as a potential cause, but I ruled it out because of the HUGE disparity between the reaction to this and the reaction to the warrantless wiretapping scandal of the 2000s. Wasn't that spying on American citizens as well? Why do you suppose that was essentially ignored by most people while this has become such a significant issue for so many?
One of the revelations has simply been the capability level. The estimated computing and storage capacity of the NSA has long been treated as something of a growing constant in privacy equations and concerns that were waved off as tinfoil hat syndrome ten years ago happen to be absurdly commonplace.
And that is a reason that foreign countries should be concerned about doing business with american companies. There are questions as to whether major players were complicit or were infiltrated, but it was foolish not to expect infiltration at a minimum.
Anyway, fuck Marc Andreesen. He's on the wrong side of history if he thinks that the massive surveillance apparatus recording us through our social media apps should have been kept secret so that his portfolio would continue performing as expected.
That is the psychological profile of a traitor and he deserves a sound kick in the balls for using his influence and media reach to say this sort of nonsense.
I wouldn't accept investment money from him after this.
I think the difference is that people could rationalize that warrantless wiretapping would never happen to them -- it was something that only happened to "criminals" -- whereas the new revelations show that the NSA is indeed spying on all of us all the time.
(I'm not saying I agree that warrantless wiretapping is not a problem -- just that I can see how it might not grab people.)
I've been as confused as Andreessen about the fact that there's been such a huge outcry (which is great per se) after decades of complacency. For those of us who found the NSA to be despicable before Snowden's leaks, I feel like there was just a feeling of resignation that people just didn't care (even in tech circles like HN). It was a similar feeling to thinking about climate change in the late 90s/00s. I considered what you're describing as a potential cause, but I ruled it out because of the HUGE disparity between the reaction to this and the reaction to the warrantless wiretapping scandal of the 2000s. Wasn't that spying on American citizens as well? Why do you suppose that was essentially ignored by most people while this has become such a significant issue for so many?