I don't really get what the line of argument is here, exactly. The CIA & FBI engaged in massive abuses in the past, including psychological and biological experimentation on unwitting US subjects, so therefore we should be blasé about their ongoing mass surveillance program (which, incidentally, has the potential for much more wide-reaching political and societal damage than anything that's come before it)?
I guess one could also argue for calm on the basis that the Stasi once existed and these days East Germany is an okay place.
And the solutions to these issues are perfectly well known: the intelligence agencies need to be curtailed and reined in, and their ability to indefinitely store massive reams of data about every private citizen brought to an end.
I said know the history. Such programmes were shut down in the past. Knowing how and why doesn't just reduce anxiety, it gives you a bag of tools to improve on. Assuming everyone knows the history is a big mistake. On top of that there are lot of characters around who benefit from ignorance and stoking anxiety.
I guess one could also argue for calm on the basis that the Stasi once existed and these days East Germany is an okay place.
And the solutions to these issues are perfectly well known: the intelligence agencies need to be curtailed and reined in, and their ability to indefinitely store massive reams of data about every private citizen brought to an end.