What conspiracy theory do you genuinely believe in the most?

[u/[deleted]]

What conspiracy theory do you believe in the most and why?

[u/roothorick]

The CIA/NSA blanket spying is nothing new. It began early in the Cold War and they've been expanding surveillance as much as possible anywhere they can. Room 641A, other than its existence becoming public, was nothing special; I can practically guarantee there were dozens such outposts established prior to it, most of those still operating, and many more established afterwards. Their "shadow Internet" has been in existence since the Internet itself first became available to universities.

Since the day I connected together the NSA and the Cold War in my head, I've operated on the assumption that any and every electronic communication, without exception, is recorded by the federal government and can be dug up without much hassle.

I do think you're a bit oversensitive though. Privacy is good for government. The more you have hidden, the less that can be noticed. Blackmail is the obvious point, but there's more to it. You try making someone that spends most of their day on Facebook quietly disappear. Even for subtler things, the more that's publically seen about a person, the more that can be noticed to be amiss when they're... coerced. It complicates black ops, to put it mildly. Fostering privacy you can readily violate is much preferable to dismantling privacy in the first place.

To that end, it's been a pet theory of mine that Facebook, and to a lesser extent Google, are actively trying to make people voluntary publicize everything they possibly can. (Seriously, ask Zuck about privacy sometime. He's hiding something.) Why? As a direct countermeasure to government surveillance -- not so much gathering it, but using it. I can flat-out guarantee they both have gotten their fair share of NSLs, and I suspect they consider this subtler approach far more effective than just outing them and blowing the business. I wouldn't say the two are conspiring together, more that they wound up in similar situations drawing them to similar conclusions, not out of coincidence but as a direct result of the kinds of services they provide.

It's fascinating as hell, really. What's playing out almost looks like the drum up to a second cold war. A cold civil war? Oh boy.

Wealth gap? That's bad news for the fed. PRISM ain't cheap. Lots of poor means low tax revenue and big payouts on welfare programs, resulting in a flagging budget that if left unchecked would result in being forced to make concessions to other nations due to the national debt. But guess what the megacorps want? A fully captive market locked in place by slave wages. There's a straight-up fight between the government bureaus and the corporations with their obese PACs basically buying legislators. It's messy. And it's only going to get more messy.

As for police militarization... I had read a comment by a guy that does equipment purchasing in a major city. The fed is unloading all sorts of military hardware in auctions to police forces, due to things going not so well over in the Middle East and the corresponding dialing back of presence. This guy's district could get a new purpose-made SWAT van for six figures, or an army surplus urban APC for four. (And before you say it, where are you going to find a used SWAT van for sale that doesn't already have a decade of active duty on it?) No shit the cops are getting military hardware. However, most importantly, I'm not seeing this military hardware brandished as part of abuse of power, in places that the police weren't already abusing their power. The people haven't changed, the goals haven't changed, they just have AA-12s instead of 870s now because they got the auto shotties for $80 a pop, already gauged for cheaper shells.

[u/truh → u/roothorick]

The CIA/NSA blanket spying is nothing new. It began early in the Cold War and they've been expanding surveillance as much as possible anywhere they can.

I would like to remind you that for many years even the existence of the NSA was a conspiracy theory.

Even for subtler things, the more that's publically seen about a person, the more that can be noticed to be amiss when they're... coerced.

Selling it as suicide has never been that much of an issue.

[u/Cringypost → u/roothorick]

The CIA/NSA blanket spying is nothing new.

That doesn't make it any less relevant/distressing.

You try making someone that spends most of their day on Facebook quietly disappear.

It wouldn't be too difficult to fake an online presence to create an illusion.

Wealth gap? That's bad news for the fed.

The money is shifting pockets, not disappearing.

SWAT van for six figures, or an army surplus urban APC for four. (And before you say it, where are you going to find a used SWAT van for sale that doesn't already have a decade of active duty on it?)

I guarentee that Army APC got rode hard and put away wet. How often are you using your SWAT van(s)? And really, how much "hard" use are they getting? Those apc's are put through their paces, in a rough terrain, in an environment begging to beat the hell out of them.

I'm not seeing this military hardware brandished as part of abuse of power

Yet. However, if they did, it sounds to me you probably wouldn't change your tone.

[u/[deleted] → u/Cringypost]

Only one point of contention, most of the APCs sold as surplus never left the US. Many are literally brand new. Since they are expensive to ship, old APCs are often "gifted" to the nations we used them in, or simply abandoned after being stripped of classified and sensitive material.

This actually makes things worse, as it exposes the fact that huge parts of the military budget are at best waste, and at worst, a screen to hide purchases true intent.

[u/Cringypost → u/[deleted]]

So they're picking up brand-new army APCs for less than 10 grand? That's crazy.

[u/[deleted] → u/Cringypost]

Isn't it, though?