111 Years of the US Surveillance State

Harvard historian Murray Levin argued that this mood of fear and near-panic that possessed the popular imagination throughout the early Cold War years was not so much a spontaneous reaction as the result of an orchestrated campaign on the part of the power elite. In Levin’s words, “The proponent of political hysteria must maintain high levels of anxiety and justify extreme means to eliminate the threat. The threat, therefore, must be portrayed as enormously powerful and totally evil. This apocalyptic version of the conspiratorial theory of history is a functional necessity.”

The purpose of all the fear mongering was to justify the expansion and reach of the National Security apparatus.

via From the Philippines to the NSA: 111 Years of the US Surveillance State.

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