Whatever side you take with regard to the NSA controversy,

[patrice]

77. There is inherent in that position a nearly complete disregard for the sum-total of all

inertia in all systems.

It is my opinion that that is a calculated disregard, not an ignorant one, a calculated disregard that operates on the assumption that people are too stupid to learn in any other way than by punishment, so authentic alternatives are not developed because there is always this plausibly deniable justification for not doing that other stuff, so the in-crowd sticks together and enforces conformity at ALL costs.

If the whole thing utterly crashes and utterly burns, they win anyway and get to say "I told you so" and they will at least have one another and whatever resources they have developed for themselves. It's another branch of the class war manifested amongst the cognoscenti instead of the wealthy, though the wealthy are quite welcome after being thoroughly "Peace-and-Justice"-washed with the politically correct quantity of crocodile tears for folks like those who were killed at the Boston Marathon, or for the elders who are put-down, all according to accepted medical practices, mind you, once they are diagnosed with dementia and the costs of caring for them, along with the rest of the "unworthy", in the warehouses that we refer to as "long-term care" in this country, exceed the cost:benefit ratios defined by the "new" order.