This is really bad. The surveillance state is closer than most of us think.
Mission creep happens at all levels of government, because every time a large bureaucracy is created, a large internal lobby structure is created within the government. These lobbies are just as bad as corporate lobbies in many cases (DEA, for example), because their mission isn't good governance (which should ideally always be every department's mission) but protecting their budget (which should never be anyone's mission).
I've reached a point where I really think that groups of people over a certain size (haven't figure out the size yet) are practically ungovernable without some level of oppression. Small, decentralized communities are the best bet I think.
You might be interested in Dunbar's Number, or the monkeysphere. It might be the maximum number of people you can have in an organization or community without needing a bureaucracy to manage them.I've reached a point where I really think that groups of people over a certain size (haven't figure out the size yet) are practically ungovernable without some level of oppression.
I think it's already here. Next stop: police state. It's absurd that the President of the US just compared the surveillance of US citizens to an anecdote of washing the dishes. I don't see how we can get off of this train. I don't expect this to be a campaign issue in 2016.
Surveillance State: already here
Police State: already here
Thrid-World: already here These things are either already here or are just over the horizon.