As we bravely march forward into an increasingly connected and modern society, we must take time to pause and reflect upon our collective actions.

We are now aware, thanks to Edward Snowden's brave revelations, that just about any electronic submission of our thoughts, plans, or actions is capable of being monitored by our own government. Anything you type, post, text or speak into an electronic device can be legally intercepted and stored by our own government.

These actions are no allegations but are bonafide facts. The nefarious nature of these draconian policies might not be a cause for concern initially, as the actions are deemed precautionary by those in charge of protecting us from the seemingly real dangers of terrorism. However, if we begin to analyze these policies of gathering data with such a large dragnet, we quickly should come to the conclusion that the practice of intercepting and storing data has gone too far.

Unfortunately, we have opened Pandora's Box. Sadly, there may be no going back from this truly Orwellian state. Hopefully, however, we might finally come to grasp with a couple of historical truisms: That power given to any government in good faith has rarely been used benevolently, and that the greatest threat to liberty of any people is often thinly veiled as a promise of security.