"Eventually the mere fact that something has been investigated eleven times becomes suspicious."
"And therefore the number of suspected enemies of the people?"
"Would Explode! The Government Machine is looking at itself in the mirror, of course; it's seeing an image of its own weaknesses."
"So what, practially speaking, would be the upshot of this?"
"You end up with a machine which knows that by its mildest estimates it must have terrible enemies all around and within it, but it can't find them. It therefore deduces that they are well-concealed and expert, likely professional agitators and terrorists. Thus, more stringent and probing methods are called for."
[..]
"Did you just drag me through that entire fandango to get an explanation of 'stat filler' for one of your chums with a secure annexe?"
Nick Harkaway's "Gone Away World" one of the best descriptions of State paranoia I've ever seen.
Slashdot Mirror
"Eventually the mere fact that something has been investigated eleven times becomes suspicious."
"And therefore the number of suspected enemies of the people?"
"Would Explode! The Government Machine is looking at itself in the mirror, of course; it's seeing an image of its own weaknesses."
"So what, practially speaking, would be the upshot of this?"
"You end up with a machine which knows that by its mildest estimates it must have terrible enemies all around and within it, but it can't find them. It therefore deduces that they are well-concealed and expert, likely professional agitators and terrorists. Thus, more stringent and probing methods are called for."
[..]
"Did you just drag me through that entire fandango to get an explanation of 'stat filler' for one of your chums with a secure annexe?"
Nick Harkaway's "Gone Away World" one of the best descriptions of State paranoia I've ever seen.