News comes today that the U.S. Federal government has begun recruiting a projected 4% of Americans to spy on the rest of us. It's all in the name of "homeland security", so naturally we needn't worry about the possibility of false accusations, incentives for hearsay rather than facts, or a midnight visit from our all-wise authorities (complete with a ninja-clad SWAT team who isn't polite enough to knock). Really, it's all quite harmless, even though the USA will have a higher percentage of informants than communist East Germany did at the height of the Stasi secret police. I'm from the government and I'm here to help you!
And here I thought the USA Patriot Act was bad: at least that heinous piece of legislation didn't turn citizen against citizen. With each passing day I become less sanguine about the future of American freedom.
One small step for government stooges, one giant leap for American authoritarianism.