General Discussion

But that has been the case for a quarter century, now, ever since I got my first computer.

Like Europe's socialist regimes, I think that they, too will drown in their sea of information. The socialist countries, notably the relatively compact "German Democratic Republic," informally known as East Germany, needed all the storage space they could grab just to house the files on their citizens. The more oppressive they got, the more their people became "enemies of the state," and the greater their piles of files got. When socialism collapsed, and the people were allowed to see the files the regime kept on them, they were astonished to see the immense amount information that had been collected on every one of them. Many were appalled at seeing how many "IM" (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter--unofficial collaborators) had been collecting information on their every move, every utterance, every friendship made. The people informing the government on them were friends, neighbors, even relatives. It was all in the files. On our way to becoming the Soviet States of America, Stephen Miller and friends have only to follow their socialist role models of recent history. From Soviet-style military parades to mountains of information on private citizens gathered for the sole purpose of harassing, following, and, ultimately arresting or expelling uncomfortable citizens. The SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) regime had their own word for expulsion: "Ausbürgern." Sort a "de-naturalization."

For the East Germans, it was easy, since there was a West Germany for them to send their own uncomfortable citizens to. For a while, the East Germans even had their very own resident American rock star/actor, Dean Reed. He died mysteriously at about age 48, when he drowned after making noises of maybe returning to the USA. He was living a relatively luxurious life in East Germany (by local standards, anyway), as the regime loved his propaganda value. It would not have done to have him to give it all up to return to the USA. He should have kept his mouth shut for three more years. By then, the regime had collapsed, and he would have been free to do what he wanted, and--better yet--seen all the dossiers his "friends" had amassed on him.

Some former East Germans made a film about artistic dissidents and their Government stalkers called "Das Leben der Anderen," or "The Lives of Others." It was SO well made that it got an Oscar in the USA, and deservedly so. All the major roles were played by actors from the former East Germany, and they were depicted to perfection.

We will have digitized many of our files, but I'm betting the efficiency is still less than optimal. With the number of Americans opposed to the current regime, they would practically need to enlist the other half of the country to keep an eye on us all.

Final note--I am in Sprout City for the day (aka Brussels), heading down to France tomorrow one last time before heading over to Boss Town. One of my Belgian colleagues told me of a visit to the USA by his sister and her husband, who is Greek. He said that when they arrived, they were interrogated for 45 minutes, getting asked the same stupid questions many times in a row, and had their pockets and hand luggage taken apart in separate interrogation rooms. This is exactly the same thing the East Germans would do to me on occasion when returning to West Berlin from East Berlin. I was the only one in the room without a uniform, a gun, or the right to stand up without permission. The first time, it was a little intimidating. The second and third times, I just let them have their fun. It was just control and harassment for the sake of control and harassment. "WE are in charge here!" OK, I wouldn't think of disputing it. And after 45 minutes, they let me go and moved on to their next victim. A pointless power play by a pointless regime. But as long as the Trumpanzees are in power, no one from the family of my Belgian colleague (including him) intends on ever setting foot in the United States again--not smart on our part, as our country could use the money.