Funny, in 1999 the 9th wrote "Whether we are surveilled by our government, by criminals, or by our neighbors, it is fair to say that never has our ability to shield our affairs from prying eyes been at such a low ebb."
The list of things that have changed since then makes 1999 that quote look downright insane. I'm not even going to explain how much less private everyone is. But lets just say, back then, for the most part the government (and via 3rd parties) was probably surveying people under actual investigation less than they currently surveying everyone in the country.
> But lets just say, back then, for the most part the government (and via 3rd parties) was probably surveying people under actual investigation less than they currently surveying everyone in the country.
Only if we selectively ignore COINTELPRO, the Red Scare witch-hunts, the attacks on the Civil Rights & Black Power movements...
> The VENONA papers actually proved McCarthy right.
That's a pretty ludicrous claim, and the link you posted does not support it. It says only that a Texas school board was criticized for making similar claims.
Again, the wikipedia link says nothing about the claim you're making except that a Texas school board controversially tried to promote it in its curriculum.
From further reading, the claim itself seems to originate from an Ann Coulter book.
The decrypted messages gave important insights into Soviet behavior in the period during which duplicate one-time pads were used. With the first break into the code, Venona revealed the existence of Soviet espionage[23] at Los Alamos National Laboratories.[24] Identities soon emerged of American, Canadian, Australian, and British spies in service to the Soviet government, including Klaus Fuchs, Alan Nunn May, and Donald Maclean. Others worked in Washington in the State Department, the Treasury, Office of Strategic Services,[25] and even the White House.
The messages show that the U.S. and other nations were targeted in major espionage campaigns by the Soviet Union as early as 1942. Among those identified are Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; Alger Hiss; Harry Dexter White, the second-highest official in the Treasury Department; Lauchlin Currie,[26] a personal aide to Franklin Roosevelt; and Maurice Halperin,[27] a section head in the Office of Strategic Services."
McCarthy's claims were far broader than that (and virtually all spurious). From a specialist historian:
> But if McCarthy was right about some of the large issues, he was wildly wrong on virtually all of the details. ... virtually none of the people that McCarthy claimed or alleged were Soviet agents turn up in Venona. ... The new information from Russian and American archives does not vindicate McCarthy. He remains a demagogue, whose wild charges actually made the fight against Communist subversion more difficult.
I don't understand what you mean. Are you reading the quote backwards? They're claiming 1999 had a then-record high amount of surveillance. That the trend continued is hardly a reason to call the quote insane!
The list of things that have changed since then makes 1999 that quote look downright insane. I'm not even going to explain how much less private everyone is. But lets just say, back then, for the most part the government (and via 3rd parties) was probably surveying people under actual investigation less than they currently surveying everyone in the country.