Permanent Record

Permanent Record
By Edward Snowden
Published in September 2019
352 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 5/5

This book is an absolute must read book to understand how the American deep state works.

Edward Snowden was a high level CIA and NSA contractor. In 2013, he revealed to Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald what is now common knowledge - that the government collects all data on the planet, and stores it forever. All phone calls, text messages, Facebook posts, Twitter DMs, Discord conversations, word documents, internal business memos, powerpoint presentations, video calls, and other files you may have are stored and monitored by the NSA.

At the time of his revelations Snowden had everything - a 6 figure salary, a beautiful fiancée, and a house in tropical Hawaii. He would lose everything after his revelations. The government would cancel his passport while transiting through Russia, exiling him there. Although the government had forced him to go to Russia in the first place, it would then use his exile there as proof of his treason.

Snowden’s revelations were probably the single biggest news story of 2013. Now, they have all been forgotten. However, since then something major has changed. In 2024, everyone understands that the internet is not a free place. It is somewhere you will be monitored, tracked, and manipulated.

Snowden has been forgotten by the younger generation. To my shock, many educated, smart Gen Z kids have never heard of him. They couldn’t believe me when I told them about Snowden, and asked me about what this guy’s “theory” was. The fact that the government propaganda would train the kids to think that Snowden was just some bargain basement conspiracy theorist rather than an actual insider shows how insidious propaganda is.

But there is some significant hope. Millennials still believe in the institutions of America. My generation thinks that although there is some corruption, the government and its institutions are fundamentally benevolent. Gen Z kids assume that the government and its institutions are fundamentally corrupt.

The single most interesting revelation to me in the book was about the structure of the deep state. Snowden often worked for companies such as Dell or Perot Systems. He rarely directly worked for the NSA. The deep state has been privatized. The very word “deep state” is a misnomer - it implies that the government is in the driving seat, making all decisions.

In Snowden’s case, the private contractors were the technologically advanced elites. The government employees were just the help desk workers and bureaucrats. He reveals that the private contractors would drive policies, carry out plans, and make the key decisions.

There is a tripartite hierarchy within the deep state. At the bottom, there is the private sector - everyone outside of the three letter intelligence agencies and the regulatory state. In the middle, there is the actual government - the agencies like the CIA or NSA as well as economic regulatory bodies. At the top are the small number of private parties that benefit which dictate policy.

This book is very well written. Snowden comes off as someone that I would be friends with. It reads like a thriller.

If you want to learn about the deep state, start here. My own intellectual journey, in part, started with Edward Snowden. No matter how much you think you know about the shadow government, whether its nothing or a lot, I still recommend reading this book.

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