Paying for our shackles

In this era, when the Fourth Amendment has been eroded to almost nothing, it amazes me how the American public is willing to pay for the devices and services that limits our privacy even further.

Devices such as cell phones, which can, and do, allow you to be tracked to within a couple of feet of your actual position. Similar tracking devices, such as GPS navigation devices and Onstar are also common in our cars, and people pay for them.

The various e-readers, which store your reading selections in various corporate data bases. Modern cars, which store your driving actions, and location. Those "discount cards" which allow a name and address to be attached to the store's database of what you've bought. Computers in general, which are monitored and hacked on regular basis.

The list of devices goes on and on, but the amazing part is that the American public actually buys all this stuff. Corporations and the government don't have to put tracking devices on people or cars, we actually pay for the "privilege". Hell, we willing babble about our most personal, intimate lives on Facebook and other such places.

How can we become angry at the government tearing down the 4th Amendment when we're paying to do the same thing ourselves?

It just seems so very bizarre, paying for your shackles.

This is what Chalmers Johnson meant when he said you can have a foreign empire or a domestic democracy but not both.

hell, I don't even have cell reception where I live. I buy books at a wonderful used bookstore in Plainfield VT. My subaru is 14 years old. I'm amazed by technology and a little freaked out by it. Yesterday, my son called me from Colorado. He was skiing and talking to me through his blue tooth helmet.

He's an expert skier but all I could think of was that this was a crazy thing to do and a great way to get hurt.

Cell phones are ubiquitous now, as are the rest of the items I mentioned. Sadly, people seem to accept this loss of privacy as the price for living in this country.