Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand says that information is both free and expensive.
I now understand what Stewart Brand means after reading the story about Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald in the NY Times ("Snowden's People" by Peter Maass, Aug. 18, 2013).
I can't sleep knowing my email and phone records are encrypted and captured by the N.S.A. courtesy of Google and Verizon and Twitter.
The Patriot Act is read out loud to me as I sleep.
Nightmares ensue as I finally realize I have no privacy.
That I now live in a Police State, ruled by The Military but disguised as a Republic, is no longer in question.
I really don't want to know what I know.
I feel like I'm living under The Golden Gate Bridge where it's a little dark and the freedom to come and go as I please is obstructed by chain-link, but where my cell phone service is allowed to continue uninterrupted.
A whole universe lives above me watching every move I make, reporting to Headquarters.
I feel just like people must have felt in the old days, when freedom was information and information was relatively inexpensive.