“Be it resolved state surveillance is a legitimate defence of our freedoms….”
Pro: Michael Hayden and Alan Dershowitz
Con: Glenn Greenwald and Alexis Ohanian
Hosted by Munk Debates
Debate on state surveillance: Greenwald and Ohanian vs Hayden and Dershowitz
It was an excellent debate with Greenwald decisively beating both of his opponents. Ohanian held his ground but I would rather have had Chris Hedges. I’m glad he mentioned that Clapper was caught lying to Congress, I suspect it made the audience wonder about Hayden. Dershowitz tried to make points on weak semantic differences on motives but came off as a contentious trial lawyer with little substance.
While I am sure that many in the older generation support Greenwald and Ohanian’s positions, the debate seemed to be structured as the old establisment elite versus the younger generation of professionals. The odd thing is that the “younger generations” seemed to be more concerned about traditional/constitutional values of privacy and freedom from government spying than the supposedly more conservative older generation.