patrick.net

This reminds me of the stories I used to hear on NPR in early 2008 about young, fresh out of college interviewees grinding their axes about the companies environmental policies. The interviewees in the story sounded so proud of their activism. Needless to say they did NOT get the jobs.

Then the great recession hit. Who knows where those activists are now.

All those protesters are doing is locking themselves out of a job.

New Renter says

All those protesters are doing is locking themselves out of a job.

Try a whole generation.

Tattoos, piercings, gauges, psych meds since they were in elementary school, Facebook posts of them doing stupid stuff during an Orwellian era.

I still stand firm when I say the workforce is getting older, because we've bred intelligence, and initiative out of our gene pool.

It does come across as, can we call it, naive indignation...But I have to admire them for it, and I don't think you have to let go of it. There is a balance there somewhere, but sadly most of us are either unaware (willful or otherwise) from the beginning or sell out to some degree. If push came to shove would I go work for Monsanto to feed my family? I probably would. I wouldn't feel good about it, though. Locking yourself out of a job you have essentially no interest in? Is there harm in that...marginal, I suppose.

(not to single out Monsanto specifically, but they are the whipping boy du jour)

The NSA is missing a terrific marketing opportunity here. People are paying for cloud storage, because many remember data loss due to hard disk failure or other mishaps. Instead of trying to prosecute Snowden for whistleblowing, NSA should re-position him as the poster boy for the public debate that he proposed.

"HI! We're the NSA! We keep safe backup copies of all your data, in the cloud, ABSOLUTELY FREE! (Actual budget is classified.) It's your tax dollars at work! No need to worry about losing your phone, we know all your contacts! Even a flood or other natural disaster won't result in data loss, because we have backup copies in UTAH, carefully monitored by Mormons!"

The recruitment pitch would be even better. "Learn all about your neighbors by protecting all their personal data for them! They'll love you, or at least pretend to! No one will ever dare say anything bad about you again!"

swebb says

If push came to shove would I go work for Monsanto to feed my family?

At least you get free GMO food!

They should just put ads in the sex fetish sites. Perverts, freaks, vouyers-do you want to belong to a group, do you want to make money out of your deepest fantasies-then the NSA is the place for you..

lostand confused says

They should just put ads in the sex fetish sites. Perverts, freaks, vouyers-do you want to belong to a group, do you want to make money out of your deepest fantasies-then the NSA is the place for you..

That would put them in direct competition with the TSA.

NSA, TSA, NAR, what's the difference?

Straw Man says

New Renter says

NSA, TSA, NAR, what's the difference?

Type of rape: virtual, physical, financial.

That and with the NSA and TSA, we actually pay their pensions, retiree health benefits, salary and any number of perks.

New Renter says

All those protesters are doing is locking themselves out of a job.

But that's not the right way to think about it. What about morality? After all, people should take jobs they actually want to do. Not a job they'll hate every minute of.

People with your mentality took jobs at Gestapo to kill jews in 1930's. You think about that.

NSA offers the best careers for STEM graduates, thus, if I were these kids, I wouldn't burn one of the few bridges which actually has a payoff in the end.

"I don't believe the NSA is telling complete lies." That's going to be a classic t-shirt slogan.

This job isn't for everyone. You must be able to look the other way, be completely morally corrupt and have absolutely no ethics to fit in.

Rin says

NSA offers the best careers for STEM graduates, thus, if I were these kids, I wouldn't burn one of the few bridges which actually has a payoff in the end.

CS and math perhaps. I think the operations branch recruits from another pool entirely.

FortWayne says

This job isn't for everyone. You must be able to look the other way, be completely morally corrupt and have absolutely no ethics to fit in.

And you know this from personal experience?

FortWayne says

New Renter says

All those protesters are doing is locking themselves out of a job.

But that's not the right way to think about it. What about morality? After all, people should take jobs they actually want to do. Not a job they'll hate every minute of.

People with your mentality took jobs at Gestapo to kill jews in 1930's. You think about that.

All hail Godwin's Law!

People were desperate for ANY work in 1930s Germany. Many Germans also wrongfully blamed the Jewish bankers sent to represent Germany at the Paris Peace Conference for the punishing reparations imposed on Germany for the war. To a few of those Germans punishing the Jews WAS the moral act.

New Renter says

To a few of those Germans punishing the Jews WAS the moral act.

Most of them knew damn well they were committing genocide. No normal human being can slaughter an entire villages of people and not feel any remorse.

And it's a comparison to Nazis because the shoe fits buddy, because you sounded like you are ok with looking the other way even when government abuses it's citizens.

New Renter says

Rin says

NSA offers the best careers for STEM graduates, thus, if I were these kids, I wouldn't burn one of the few bridges which actually has a payoff in the end.

CS and math perhaps. I think the operations branch recruits from another pool entirely.

Actually, much of the applied sciences because a lot of what they do is risk assessment which include chemical production, deliver, biohazards, you name it, technically. Now, granted the CS and Applied Math folks get the more intriguing work but hey, for an S&E, being able to study process engineering and where the problems are, from a natl sec p.o.v., is more than what most ppl in DuPont do nowadays.

FortWayne says

New Renter says

To a few of those Germans punishing the Jews WAS the moral act.

Most of them knew damn well they were committing genocide. No normal human being can slaughter an entire villages of people and not feel any remorse.

And it's a comparison to Nazis because the shoe fits buddy, because you sounded like you are ok with looking the other way even when government abuses it's citizens.

Its a FAR cry between listening in on the phone call of a suspected sleeper agent and brutally slaughtering millions of innocent people.

New Renter says

Its a FAR cry between listening in on the phone call of a suspected sleeper agent and brutally slaughtering millions of innocent people.

Just because you don't understand or comprehend rights and how they can be taken away with this system does not make it "innocent" or "insignificant".

FortWayne says

New Renter says

Its a FAR cry between listening in on the phone call of a suspected sleeper agent and brutally slaughtering millions of innocent people.

Just because you don't understand or comprehend rights and how they can be taken away with this system does not make it "innocent" or "insignificant".

The problem here is the potential for someone in power, to abuse one's authority whereas in the case of the Nazis, that was the M.O. of the entire fascist govt.

Thus, expanded NSA powers, without some Congressional oversight, will lead to a type of oligarch security state whereas those with the means, generally the rich and well-connected, will abuse others, like up and coming political or business rivals, but be able to cloak everything under a national security visage.