We are certainly living in a more democratic world than in 1988, though. Yes, people like Hungary’s Orban are disturbing much as Trump is, but to compare them to actual Fascist (or Communist) dictators is absurd.
I’m not so sure about that. I can see it wearing away bit by bit. Maybe I’m paranoid and stupid.
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In all seriousness, what exactly did FDR (or his successor Truman) not uphold in terms of Yalta promises?
From what I understand, not hindering Soviet support of communist parties in the east. Let’s not pretend that the west did not intervene in the east when it suited their purposes and then refuse to carry through on their promises.
The Cold War was the responsibility of both the US and Soviet Union. They both benefited, at home and abroad. We need to stop pretended that “our” side were somehow less responsible for it.
Power is and always is the problem.
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On the other hand, one side had to shoot people trying to leave it. The other side was so attractive that people tried to get to it despite being shot at. It’s no tragedy that one side ceased to exist.
Not to my eyes. Russia is nowhere close to a legitimate democracy. Neither are many of the other ex-Soviet states.
As for the USA…
…and those are both from before the rise of Trump.
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Once again, do you really think I’m arguing that? You’re having a debate here that literally has nothing to do with the original topic. We can both criticize the very real problems with CW America and the foreign policy of that time (which at times was brutal and supportive of violent, dictatorial regimes that also shot people trying to leave, among other things) AND understand that the Soviets had very real problems of their own. The world just isn’t that black and white.
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But at least they aren’t commies! /s
How did we get here again? 
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Oh, I absolutely agree that there were terrible actions committed by the US during the Cold War in the name of defeating Communism, and that they should be criticized. Just not that these actions made the two sides anywhere close to equivalent, which I (maybe incorrectly) interpreted you as making the argument for.
But to get back to the actual topic of the NSA today, I think the lack of credible external threats to the US (at least of the type that can be actually be handled by signal intelligence) combined with the illegal mission creep to domestic surveillance makes it very hard for anyone to actually feel proud about working there in the way they could during the Cold War or in previous codebreaking organizations during WWII.
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Take this as you will, but in my view, Russia and the Soviet Union are not and were not my country. I can’t make historical moral evaluations for them. However, I can do that for the country I live in. And as a historian who studies the CW era, the “whose to blame” questions always left me cold and bored. YMMV, of course, as plenty of historians of the CW era or the Soviet era like to think about those sorts of questions. I guess I’m more interested in questions related to what specific conditions were created by the CW and how people (in my case, specifically young people who thought of themselves as part of the imagined community of a global counter/subculture) responded to that.
If there is a threat, it’s probably much less from Daesh or Al-Qaeda, or even Iran, and much more from North Korea right now.
Sure. But, I bet they there are still people who do feel some sort of pride.
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I believe you mean “The shit Snowden uncovered is why we can’t have nice things…”, since if all he had uncovered was a well-run, well-oiled and responsible institution, none of these reactions would have been necessary.
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Can’t the same argument be used for joining the armed services, or for doing DoD-funded research? I think it is wrong in both cases. Everyone I know who has worked for the NSA (this almost included me) was someone of good character who was proud of being able to do service for the country, even if they did not agree with all its decisions at any given time.
As for
the illegal mission creep to domestic surveillance
the NSA is a technical organization that generally does the bidding of the powers that direct it. While we know that in recent years it has occasionally expanded its already-broad security brief beyond its original scope, that has apparently been with the full blessing of Congress and the general population, all of whom seem quite happy with such activity. I find this blessing puzzling and deplorable, but I respect the fact that in a democracy (or whatever the USA is) the majority might disagree with my personal beliefs.
I would be more critical of the NSA if they emulated the CIA habit of evasively trying to ignore or bypass attempts at regulation.
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I did not mis-speak before. I’m sure it won’t surprise you at all that here again I don’t share the dominant crowd view here. Then again I bear no ill will to anyone who doesn’t share my view either.
Good for whom?
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