As the passions and justifications swirl around the revelations concerning the NSA, the rest of the world sits and wonders.<\/p>\n
Is only the U.S. involved? Or might, perhaps, every government on Earth be rather keen to use all technological methods to protect its interests?<\/p>\n
What do ordinary Americans think (apparently, we don\u2019t mind too much)?<\/p>\n
But, more importantly, what does Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak think?<\/p>\n
It so happens that Spanish language tech site FayerWayer happened upon Woz as he sat at an airport.<\/p>\n
So often known to be obliging and spontaneous, Woz offered his thoughts. Essentially, he seemed to be reassessing his whole view of America.<\/p>\n
He explained that he was brought up believing that other countries tortured prisoners, but America \u201cdidn\u2019t torture them. We gave them good clothing and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so proud of my country and now I find out it\u2019s just the opposite,\u201d Woz sighed.<\/p>\n
Woz believes a certain decline started a few years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these things that talk about the Constitution that made us so good as people, they\u2019re kind of nothing. They all dissolved with the Patriot Act,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not even a free open court anymore,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He is clearly distraught about what he sees is the erosion of the America he believed in, one whose people had clear rights. Everything, in his eyes, was overturned.<\/p>\n
Warming to his theme, he explained: \u201cThat\u2019s what a king does. A king just goes out, has anyone rounded up, killed, puts them in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began to compare America to Russia. It was Russia, when Woz was growing up, that followed people around and made them disappear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting more and more like that,\u201d he offered, gloomily.<\/p>\n
This trend away from the Constitution has infected ownership in the technological world, he thinks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays in the digital world you can hardly own anything anymore,\u201d he said. If you put things in the cloud, someone, somewhere might disappear it and it\u2019s gone forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we grew up, ownership was what made America different than Russia,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n