Is there any way for the 1% to substantially gain more wealth/power/control as a

result of Snowden's revelations?

I like to play "Follow The Money" when it comes to exposure of interesting activities related to the intelligence community.

Here's one simple scenario:

The public is outraged over Snowden's revelations that Big Brother is engaging in detail spying on them and their grannies. Indignant public protest is widespread. People are sick of the Patriot Act, sick of cameras on their streets, sick of Big brother constantly secretly sniffing their panties at every opportunity.

Public outrage peaks over the invasions of privacy.

And then



Some deranged Syrian jihadist, now living in Peoria, who was among those being spied on by the NSA, and who was being unknowingly nurtured by the NSA/CIA, blows up the Supreme Court for declaring DOMA unconstitutional.

Some might call it a transformational event - a "catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor", which leads RW politicians to scream how we've been attacked, and how we are going to be attacked again and again unless we give up all of our antiquated ideas that we have any right to privacy.

Public is scared shitless, they'll give up any and all rights immediately just to feel safe and secure again. Strict, invasive control measures are called for.

With little forethought, Congress quickly legislates, (they don't want to be recognized as terrorist appeasers), President signs, and Patriot Act II comes to a theater near you, complete with cameras, security scanners, ID checks, and panty sniffing dogs at every ticket booth.

The 1% has eliminated all possibility of democracy forever.

Game Over, thank you for playing.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
― Hermann Goering

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A "Know Your Trolls" public service announcement.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Third_Way_Foundation#Corporate_Funding
.

If wealthy private interests had not completely taken over our government,

and we lived in a genuine democracy, your OP would be much more reasonable.

Unfortunately, here in the Corporate States of America, many of us no longer perceive our government as being derived from the consent of the governed, but see the government as derived from the manipulations and influences of wealthy private interests, effectively having become a government of, by, and for, the 1%.

Many of us perceive acts of corporate state spying on us as acts of aggression hostile to our sovereign individual and national democratic interests.

Edward Snowden, by simply drawing focused widespread attention on the arrogant, widespread invasion of our privacy by the 1%, has given people a bit of sorely needed hope for real change. Right or wrong, he has become a hero to many people, a hero that would be unnecessary if our country and government were not almost completely occupied by the 1%.

Darwin Awards will soon replace Nobel Prizes in our blossoming authoritarian idiocracy.

After idiocracy takes root, things go from stupid to stupider until the stupid gets so widespread that it kills the planet, as citizens ot the idicracy sit on the couch and watch the entire process on TV.

Good article, describing the problem pretty well, but nothing really new.

And while I love the idea of evolutionary reconstruction, and see it happening somewhat on small scale, I think it is naive to believe that this can possibly occur without the 1% maintaining rigid control of the system and our lives if we do not first remove the 1% from power. Otherwise, we will still be slaves of the plutocrats; it's just that the system will be a kinder, gentler plantation. The plutocrats already see that more and more people are becoming aware of the inequality. They know that if they don't make some changes, they are needlessly risking pitchforks and guillotine.

The plutocrats are already planning minimum accommodations to appease the 99% in order to ensure that we remain in our milking stalls. They know that if they just give us a little more fresh hay, and higher quality (GMO) grain, our resolve will subside, and we will be content to allow them to continue to milk us forever as they further consolidate their power and control.

DUer SafetyKitten's awesome satire illustrates the plan that the plutocrats have for us:

I, for one welcome our new Costco, safe and happy place of a nation.

Well, some of us see more and more of our rights repeatedly being restricted or taken away as

more and more people sink into poverty every day. Based on indisputable evidence, we see our legislators acting undemocratically on behalf of the wealthy private interests that line their pockets. The system is broken, and few if any working within the system are making any effort whatsoever to fix it.

We question the myriad of dubious policies and practices, and get no reasonable explanations for why these regressive policies and practices are enacted and continue to be enacted as we stand by, powerless, handcuffed to a flagpole by a corrupt system controlled by wealthy private interests, while the parade of kinder, gentler fascists marches by, spitting in our faces as they do so.

You want us to stop criticizing the President and the government?

Then get them to do something to at least try to fix the problems we face, rather than being part of the cause of the problems we face.

I voted for Obama, and always vote for Democrats, and honestly, I did not expect much, because it was apparent to me that Obama was going to primarily serve wealthy private interests as Prez, although I had fervently hoped that I was wrong, and that Obama and the huge majorities of Democrats in both Houses that we elected would do something to attempt to fix the system in the name of the people and democracy. But all they did was further the interests of the 1% instead, causing many to lose faith, and subsequently the House and Senate seats in 2010, the consequence of this being the loss of all hope for change.

And we watch as the apologisitificators tell us how we should STFU, should not question authority, how the President and government only shit rubies and flowers, how whistleblowers are evil and need to be silenced for exposing corporate and official corruption, how social justice movements are evil, and how we should just bend over and let the Military Industrial Complex eternally fuck us in the ass without any lube with their "terror" and their drones as they give more and more of our rights and resources away to the wealthy private interests that own the corporations they insist are actually persons.

We're not naive, we're not blind, and we're not stupid. We don't want to bring down the President. We simply want him to act in our interests, (imagine that!) and if he cannot, then look us all in the eyes and deign to offer us a reasonable, factual, sincere public explanation as to why he cannot act in our interests.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." ~ Abe Lincoln

Right wingers are responsible for almost every problem on the planet.

I have zero tolerance for their conscienceless omnipresent lies, greed, deceit, violence, repression, oppression, pollution, bigotry, hatred, ignorance, and corruption. If it was a mere matter of opinion, that would be a different story; but the indisputable physical evidence supporting our case is overwhelming and undeniable, and obvious to any informed, perceptive, reasonable person.

Our way, no one gets killed, our home planet earth gets nurtured and protected, everyone has greater opportunity to meet their basic needs and the needs of their families, the hungry get fed, people are free to be who they are as long as they don't harm anyone, kids get educated, and the old and sick get cared for.

In short, the greatest number of people are given the greatest possibility for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I have always tried to avoid right wingers whenever possible, and have managed to remain cordial with them unless they do or say something political, ie, expressing an idea that can inevitably lead to harm, or acting in a harmful manner.

Right wingers, in totally overwhelming majority numbers, are, and have always been, the most deceitful, violent, and destructive people on the planet.

Personally, far too much of my life has been dedicated to keeping the right wing from gaining enough power to produce for themselves another violent, destructive state similar to the the right wing fascist states of the early to mid 19th century that unleashed an unspeakably wicked horror on the people of this planet, the like of which was never seen before then, or been seen since then.

I'm really tired of preventing them from doing harm. I am tired of having to always remain vigilant, of cleaning up the messes that, like toddlers in their terrible twos, the right wing cannot control themselves from making.

Right wingers said they didn't know what was going on. But they knew god damned well what was going on, and they approved of it, and they'll do it again in a heartbeat if we don't hold them in check.



Rant over.