# Did you believe the USA would become the USSR? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470 "2008-08-01T06:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/1 "2008-08-01T06:40:16Z")
This certainly seems like a slippery slope. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25960741/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25960741/) About a year ago, they went through my mobile phone in San Francisco asking me about each number stored in the phone and who it was, my relationship to them etc. I dread arriving in the US every time I go home. Note that I am white, of European ancestry and born in the US. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/2 "2008-08-01T09:55:30Z")
Wtf is that about? What concern is it of theirs what I store on my laptop or what contacts I have on my phone??? And without probably cause??? That’s just really whacked… (and yes, another white dude) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/3 "2008-08-01T10:12:09Z")
Yet another reason why I feel correct in avoiding the US. I’ve declined work and holiday opportunities. I don’t like what the US has become when it comes to these matters and simply have taken my business elsewhere. Jumped up power hungry jobsworths are going to have a field day with this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/4 "2008-08-01T10:31:13Z")
I have written to Senator Reid about this (I am from Nevada). It is outrageous that they could take my laptop containing my entire business (financial records, emails, source code to our products etc.) and keep it indefinitely with no reason other than “we felt like it”. The USSR is alive and well it seems. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/5 "2008-08-01T10:35:30Z")
For some reason I got to thinking about [Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481536/) when I started thinking about this some more… But that wasn’t supposed to be a documentary, right 😛 But damn, does this suck if it goes through… well, well… there go my dreams of my “Grand American Road Trip” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/6 "2008-08-01T11:30:05Z")
There is one country worse than the USA, that being England. They are ahead of the USA on reaching 0 rights to privacy. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/7 "2008-08-01T12:01:00Z")
Let’s not go all that far… I still believe e.g. China, North Korea, Cuba and some others might be a tad worse than the US and the UK 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/8 "2008-08-01T12:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] There is one country worse than the USA, that being England. They are ahead of the USA on reaching 0 rights to privacy. [/QUOTE] Good job I live in Scotland, then! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/9 "2008-08-01T12:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] It is outrageous that they could take my laptop containing my entire business (financial records, emails, source code to our products etc.) and keep it indefinitely with no reason other than “we felt like it”. [/QUOTE] It’s the same for me. And I can just picture the look in the Customs’ agents faces if they ever run into, say, email conversations between my Basque-Spanish-English-French-speaking coworker and his sister! :smack: I’m sure finding a translator for that can be entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/10 "2008-08-01T13:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] It’s the same for me. And I can just picture the look in the Customs’ agents faces if they ever run into, say, email conversations between my Basque-Spanish-English-French-speaking coworker and his sister! :smack: I’m sure finding a translator for that can be entertaining. [/QUOTE] Hey, my ex spoke Basque, Spanish, English, and French; but then, she had a Basque mother and a Spanish father, and grew up in Canada. I don’t know where she is is now, but at least one person with those specific language requirements exists. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/11 "2008-08-01T16:28:36Z")
That is shameful. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/12 "2008-08-01T16:38:40Z")
If it weren’t free and open-source, I’d buy stock in [TrueCrypt](http://www.truecrypt.org/). ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/13 "2008-08-01T16:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] This certainly seems like a slippery slope. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25960741/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25960741/) About a year ago, they went through my mobile phone in San Francisco asking me about each number stored in the phone and who it was, my relationship to them etc. I dread arriving in the US every time I go home. Note that I am white, of European ancestry and born in the US. ☹ [/QUOTE] Join the club, Charlie. I’m not white. More precisely, I’m bi-racial (black and white) and American. People have told me I could pass for Egyptian. Guess what I go through? I travel a lot for work, and am pulled from the line, on average, two of every five flights. I’ve had my laptop gone through many times, my phone has been confiscated about 10 times (I’ve always gotten it back though), I’ve even been forced to show all the images taken by my digital camera a few times, and I’ve been interrogated more times than I can count. I know some of the security staff at Philadelphia International by their first names and dread whenever I see a new face there. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/14 "2008-08-01T18:25:43Z")
I’ve never seen as much hatred for America as I have in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/15 "2008-08-01T18:48:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] I’ve never seen as much hatred for America as I have in this thread. [/QUOTE] You missed the 1960s. This is nothing. Besides, I don’t see hatred for America here, so much for the hatred for the hassles that America is inflicting on travelers. I don’t want to see another 9/11, but I feel our government’s gone a bit crazy in terms of their response. Though they’ve been a good deal less willing to inconvenience, say, chemical plants or hazmat-carrying trains, than to inconvenience individual travelers. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/16 "2008-08-01T19:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] I’ve never seen as much hatred for America as I have in this thread. [/QUOTE] Are there any specific comments in this thread that you feel are incorrect or unfair? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/17 "2008-08-01T19:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] I’ve never seen as much hatred for America as I have in this thread. [/QUOTE] Well, dissention _is_ the highest form of patriotism (at least according to [Howard Zinn](http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2005/02/15/misattributed-dissent-is-the-highest-form-of-patriotism.htm)). ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/18 "2008-08-01T19:56:43Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] I’ve never seen as much hatred for America as I have in this thread. [/QUOTE] BS. Hatred for the people who are trying to (further) corrupt and debase America, yes – which is the proper response of a patriotic American. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/19 "2008-08-01T20:02:54Z")
The new rules apply to _any_ data storage device you have when you pass through Customs - computer, ipod, cell phone, flash drive, digital camera, blackberry, CD, DVD, etc. Your government can hold any such device for as long as it wants, can download any and all data from the device and share that data with any entity it sees fit to do so. Also, your government can also seize/detain any documents you are carrying. _“Papers, please!”_ “Oh, sorry. You seized all of them the last time I came through.” ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470/20 "2008-08-01T20:31:01Z")
Seems best to just upload all my encrypted data to our server, wipe the laptop clean and then redownload it once past the gestapo. I never thought I’d feel more free living under an Arab dictatorship than in the US. I don’t hate America, but I do hate what has become the new “better dead than red”. We _are_ the new reds… and now everyone is the enemy… including Americans trying to get back into their own country. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-believe-the-usa-would-become-the-ussr/458470.md?page=2)