I visited a Stasi Prison museum in Berlin what shocked me the most more than the prison is how the government of East Berlin at the time run by the Soviets collected information on it's citizens. Homes were built the same so if a government official entered the home the would know every room before they entered it. It was reported that fathers and sons would work in the same prison as guards and would never know it. Husbands and wives could not trust each other because one could be working for the government; and would possible turn in their spouse if they thought unfriendly of the government. Individuals would be kidnapped and sent to secret prisons where they were tortured until they admitted to being traitors. How does this relates to the United States? Well in many ways it does not; however, similarities exist. For instance, the secret prison camps run by the US government, such as Guantanamo Bay where the torture of terrorist take place resemble the tactics used by the Soviets. Another reality which US citizens need to face is that the US government now has the legal right to assassinate US citizens without due process. Obama has killed two US citizens in Yemen without them ever being charged with a crime in a US court. Anwar al-awlaki was hit by a drone strike in Yemen then weeks later his 16 year old son Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by another drone when looking for his fathers body. Trump is already committing the same crime. President Trump has killed the third US citizen without due process, the 8 year old daughter of Awlaki.
Additionally, Donald Trump may have unknowingly revealed how deep the US government spying on US citizens goes. When it was revealed that Trump lied about the size of his inauguration crowd he made a remarkable comment. He stated he had the largest crowd ever because of those who viewed him on the internet. As harmless as this sounds I think it reveals that the Trump administration is actively collecting and manipulating data produced by the citizens. As we all should know from the information Snowden revealed is that most governments participate in this process. However, it is interesting who has partnered with Trump. Namely Peter Thiel a founder of Palantir Technology which is a privately owned company that specializes in data. This company helped the US military determine the likely hood of terrorist attacks before they happen. The government is the biggest customer of this company specifically the military; but what Americans should be concerned with now is if the government is using this technology to determine when protest will be, what states should be focused on to win elections, or who will be more likely to win an election. In other words, has the democracy of the US been undermined by individuals who control the data collected on the citizens?
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