We have entered the era STASI..

One day in September 1987, the phone rang at the headquarters of the Volkspolizei, East Germany's police force, in the town of Döbeln, not far from Dresden. On the other end of the line was the voice of an unknown man.

"Good evening. I have some information for you. Grab a pen!"

"I'm listening."

"Ms. Marianne Schneider is traveling on Wednesday, Sept. 14, to West Berlin for a visit. She doesn't intend to return." 

"And who are you?"

Silence.

"You would like to remain anonymous?"

"Yes."

"What is the basis for your information?"

"She said so, to her closest friends."

Then, the mysterious caller hung up. And Marianne Schneider* had a problem. Officials immediately revoked her travel permit and began monitoring her phone and mail in addition to questioning her neighbors and friends.

This is a quote from Spiegel  International.  A nation, Communist-ruled East Germany,  surveilled by the Stasi Police and their lackey informers where multiple tens thousands well over 150,000 of them watched neighbors and snitched on the stupidest and inane stuff.  And all this information was written down and meticulously tracked, building dossiers on normal individuals.

I recall following the slow exposure of all of this.  The archives are available to anyone that wants to go back and see who snitched on you.  We all thought it was absolutely appalling.  We all shook our heads with disapproval.  We all said "this is what happens in a Totalitarian State."

 And we looked at each other nodding in agreement saying "yes!  That's right! This is what happens."

Hedwig Richter, a professor at the University of Greifswald, speaks of a "stunning reporting machinery." Wide swaths of society were a part of it, she says. "There were institutionalized structures outside of the Stasi that produced daily and weekly reports." Whether in city hall, at the steel factory or inside the local farming collective: "Everyone who had a position with some measure of responsibility filed reports" for the state, Richter says.

Since the 1989 collapse of the communist regime, thousands of these documents have been gathering dust in the archives of Eastern German states, in the former headquarters of former East German political parties and in the basements of universities and agencies. Now, though, they are being systematically analyzed by historians and have thus far revealed the degree to which permanent surveillance was a significant part of everyday life in East Germany. Eavesdropping and informing on neighbors and colleagues was completely normal for many -- even without pressure from the Stasi and its notorious leader Erich Mielke

We bowed our heads and gently whispered a prayer thanking God we lived in a nation where this sort of thing would never happen.  And we hoped the perpetrators of this horrendous crossing of the liberties of people either had a deep change of heart or are burning in the fires of Hell.

And yet, here we are.  And it is happening.  People marching in Goose Step and swinging their right hand out high and pledging their fielty to The State.

They keep a look out for violators of the 6 foot rule.

Not wearing a mask?

You went outside and visited a neighbor?

YOU MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

So you pick up the phone, requesting anonymity and you rat on your neighbor.  But one day, you will be exposed for the Totalitarian Government sycophants you are.

You are not the friend of free society.  You are the enemy.  Just like the Patriotic Communist Germans who called the Secret Police to rat on their closest friends.

I think what alarms me is how easy it was for people to become Emotionally Invested in this and think they are on the Side of Right, filled with zeal and righteousness.  Or...are there maybe some who are being paid to rat on their friends and neighbors?  If not here in the USA, possibly other places?

And that would be a hearty....YES!!

If your disposable income is a little lacking then there's one way to boost your earnings by £1,000. By becoming an anonymous informant for the police you will be handsomely rewarded - but only if it turns out to be correct, and leads to an arrest, charge or a conviction.

It's perfectly safe to do, as the identity of the person who puts the call in is kept safe by Crimestoppers, who then pass the information on to the police independently.

According to The Coventry Telegraph the process allows people to fight crime without being exposed to any danger or possible retaliation.

The rewards can even be picked up at banks without showing any personal ID.

But back to exposing these traitors....the exposure has already started:

A spree of social media posts this week warn that St. Louis County released the information it got from people who reported businesses in violation of the stay-at-home order.

The document, released in response to a Sunshine Law request, included names and contact information of the people making the reports. In their messages, some asked for anonymity.

Posts and comments in response to the document invited retaliation against the people who utilized the county’s inbox for tips about non-essential businesses that stayed open.

The I-Team’s PJ Randhawa talked with a woman whose tip was among those released. Patricia asked that we not use her last name, because she fears what someone might do with the information in the document.

We have entered the era STASI.....and no one seems to care.

Darkness to Light.