The Surveillance State in Your Head

"As revelations about the NSA’s all-seeing surveillance programs continue to trickle out, debate has consisted mostly of quarrels over Edward Snowden’s heroism or villainy, parsings of the potentially perjurious testimony of senior officials, or challenges to the lawfulness and constitutionality of the programs themselves. Very little attention is being given to a subtly important question: what consequences does the surveillance state hold for the character of our culture? One term flirting around the edges of the discourse has the potential to provide an answer: “panopticon.”"