The real reason for government surveillance is fear, in this case the state's fear of its citizens. Governments that spy on their people want to gain information and thus control not only over their enemies but over everyone, keeping them perpetually suspicious. What begins as a political action quickly permeates every aspect of life, including our most private spaces. What originates in fear of an enemy, sometimes founded in reality, quickly attaches to the familiar and mundane.
In Iran surveillance and violence against citizens are naked and obvious. Here it is insidious. Here we are threatened by indifference.
I don't fear the ordeal of freedom. I fear the moment when we stop thinking of freedom as an ordeal.
