Not merely was my own mail opened, but the mail of all my relatives and friends—people residing in places as far apart as California and Florida. I recall the bland smile of a government official to whom I complained about this matter: ‘If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.’
Let’s be clear: the right to privacy is not a fascist dogma.
Since Goebbels used the phrase “If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”, then he’d be the one arguing against the right to privacy. The fascist dogma is eroding privacy in favour of surveillance - ostensibly to protect the people, but really just to control them.
Goebbels is not the first person to say this. An earlier quote comes from Upton Sinclair in 1918:
Let’s be clear: the right to privacy is not a fascist dogma.
Since Goebbels used the phrase “If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”, then he’d be the one arguing against the right to privacy. The fascist dogma is eroding privacy in favour of surveillance - ostensibly to protect the people, but really just to control them.
I don’t know how I got that so backward when I wrote that. Thanks for correcting me.