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Comment by djha-skin | Hacker News Reader

It should be remembered that in 2013 all the Edward Snowden stuff came out. This reads like a reaction to those revelations. Read in that context, it makes more sense: this is less a book review and more an accusation. Its portent is that the NSA will do anything it needs to to get at your data.

My father served in the military. He does not have a high opinion of Edward Snowden. He says that loose lips sink ships. He says that these kinds of leaks cause soldiers to die.

I have no patience for men who cause soldiers to die, but after that experience I do remain skeptical of the NSA and NIST.

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What did the soldiers fighting in the wars die for if the government becomes a totalitarian surveillance cesspool anyway? The sacrifice means nothing if we become what they were fighting.

Soldiers fighting totalitarian surveillance cesspool would be like state fighting itself.

>I have no patience for men who cause soldiers to die

I'll remember this when I next think of when we spent twenty years sending our kids to die in the sandbox.

You are responding with a grey comment to a black & white statement (metaphorically).

Different thinking styles.

I understand your statement and it has merit. However, I note the draft has not been active since the 70s. Those men all volunteered to serve their country. They believed in what they were doing, and so did I.

Yes, some volunteered to get out of poverty, bad circumstances, etc., but that doesn't mean it was the only route out. They chose to be there.

My uncle was in a bad situation, married early and had no money or degree. He joined the army and served in Desert Storm. He chose to be there. I was proud of him.

I didn't join because at the time I graduated high school (2005), they weren't taking people who took Adderall for ADHD ("daily psycoactive drug" or some such nonsense). It disqualified me from military service. That's what the recruiter told me anyway. But I would have been proud to serve.

I believe we did good in Afghanistan, fool's errand though it was. I believe a lot of lives were touched good. An entire generation of girls who would otherwise not have an education, for one. I was devastated when things didn't work out.

For this reason, I get annoyed when people say "we sent our kids to die".

Meanwhile military recruiters were coming to high schools grooming underage kids to sign up for the war. The strong underlying tone was "you're poor let us fix it."

If the local strip club came by and into the local school playing up the strip club to 16 years olds and asking them to come work the day they were 18 you all know we'd be appalled.

Everyone knows what they're doing. They bait kids and then get them to sign up to die.

How do you feel about Iraq?

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