How the American People Have Lost Sovereignty Part Three

This is the final article in the series on how the sovereignty of the American people has been stripped from them.  In the first article I discussed how the Supreme Court has altered the original intent of the Founding Fathers by changing corporations from Charters, which can be undone by the government, to beings superiour to people.  In the second article I discussed how the creation of the Federal Reserve was both unconstitutional (and this has never been dealt with) and stripped the government of the ability to regulate money.  The result has been a decimation of the value of the American dollar.  In this final article I will discuss how the National Security Agency (NSA) has usurped the power to deal with foreign nations, and often has an agenda that is at odds with the elected government, as well as how NSA activities have been in violation of the Constitution.

Edward Snowden, the NSA whistle-blower who was forced into exile in Russia, continues to release bombshells, the likes of which have been devastating to the confidence of the American people.  It has become painfully clear to even the most Patriotic American that their government has been lying to them and blatantly ignoring the Constitution, which limits the powers of government.  The NSA routinely monitors phone calls and online traffic, without warrants, and it does so throughout the world.  The NSA has no official place in the Constitution; it was created in 1952, when many other changes were made to American society that went against the Constitution (adding In God We Trust to the currency in ’56, and adding Under God to the pledge of allegiance in ’54).  As such, the NSA should be merely an arm of the security apparatus, but the reality is that the NSA operates independently, with no true oversight.

As such the NSA has its own agenda, and there is nothing that says that their agenda must coincide with the elected governments’ agenda.  In fact, the Snowden files show that, quite frequently, the NSA decides that the elected government has taken an incorrect position, and take actions to counter-act what the elected government is doing.  While this does not clearly strip sovereignty from the people, since the NSA is not in control, but sometimes works against the government, it does severely limit it. 

When a foreign leader learns that the NSA has been reading their personal email, it causes a rift between that nation and the USA.  When a foreign corporation learns that the NSA has been reading their private business correspondence they must wonder if that is the reason why they lost that last bid to an American company.  The rift grows wider.  Sometimes this is just blowback (unintended consequences) from activities that the government would sanction, but others are purposeful in their attempt to create a rift.  The word treason is thrown around a little too casually, but it is clear that the NSA has absolutely engaged in treason every single time it decided to work against the policies of the elected government.  Part of the problem is that the Patriot Act gave the NSA carte blanche. 

The consequences of what the NSA has been caught doing are still ongoing, but they are devastating to the USA.  It is estimated that the cost of the NSA scandal to American private companies will be in the billions.  Foreign customers might decide to do business with other nations, and some might not trust the products that they receive from the USA.  http://www.zdnet.com/us-tech-firms-to-see-china-business-dip-amid-nsa-scandal-7000023250/  You never know who is allowing the NSA to do their surveillance, tacitly endorsing that activity by turning a blind eye.  http://business.time.com/2013/12/10/nsa-spying-scandal-could-cost-u-s-tech-giants-billions/

The Guardian discusses how Australia is reacting to the scandal.  Their formerly warm attitude towards the USA has chilled a great deal.  They, legitimately, are finding it difficult to trust the Americans.  If they are spying on all Australians, are they stealing industrial secrets?  Are they providing American companies with strategic information gathered by the NSA?  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/19/the-nsa-scandal-has-detonated-in-australia-we-can-no-longer-look-away  Google actually considered moving its operations outside of the USA, but ultimately decided it was not worth it.  Let’s face it, the NSA is spying on the whole world, so just moving offshore won’t make you safe.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/101222237

Europe is seriously displeased, and are considering options on how to deal with the NSA spying.  One option on the table is to deny the USA from global financial data, which is gathered by a Belgian company called Swift.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f4bf1a8-470b-11e3-9c1b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2n5VpAMYu  At the very least the USA can expect data protection to be part of the trade deal talks with Europe.

The NSA has become a shadow government, unaccountable to the elected government, independent in action, and at times working against the stated policies of the elected government (aka representatives of the people).  Private American businesses will lose revenue because of the revelations, but the sovereignty was lost the moment the NSA was allowed to operate independently.  Organizations such as the NSA attract certain people, and certain other people are excluded from even being considered by those already entrenched.  In other words, the NSA represents a tiny sliver of the American population, and should be kept under tight scrutiny.  The very nature of such an organization works at odds with the idea of a free and open society.