"We are blinded by an American character trait, which is to feel contempt. College sophomores are regularly asked every year, "To what do you attribute your beliefs? Almost universally, they say, "I believe what I believe because I've evaluated the evidence. My idiot opponent got their evidence because of flaws in their character. "

"What happened on Sept. 11 was a failure of doctrine, in that pilots and personnel on airlines were told to be passive, to accommodate terrorists if they struck. The doctrine was revised and changed by an ad hoc committee of a dozen Americans rebelling on Flight 93 within one hour of attack. No FAA, no Senate Committee. It was done by an ad hoc committee. And no one has questioned the committee%u2019s decision. That%u2019s power. Performed by amateurs."

I've had David Brin's _The Transparent Society_ on my bookshelf for years now. It's worth re-reading.

"... the trade-offs are false dichotomies ... [Safety and freedom] go together. All it takes is breaking the stupid notion of dichotomies and trade-offs."

... "The number of cameras in private hands is expanding vastly compared to the number owned by government. ... People are profoundly more empowered by technology than hindered by it." [Do I sense a Steve Mann influence here?]

... "The aggregate of people in a given community will catch the local thugs and power abusers through small acts of revelation and investigation. It's the aggregate that's wise."

... "Teens need a sense of being able to get away. Really away."

... "[C]ommon people understand a hierarchy of privacy needs."

"We are blinded by an American character trait, which is to feel contempt. College sophomores are regularly asked every year, "To what do you attribute your beliefs? Almost universally, they say, "I believe what I believe because I've evaluated the evidence. My idiot opponent got their evidence because of flaws in their character. "