Most of us have probably heard of the childhood game.
One child says, “I spy with my with little eye… something that begins with ‘p'” (or any letter that stands for the first letter of the thing spied).
The other children then take turns asking questions, narrowing down possibilities until the mystery object is identified.
Kids used to play this during long car rides before handheld video games and other electronic gizmos. Maybe they still do if they’re not glued to their phones and tablets.
It was a fun childhood game, but when spying reaches adulthood it can be most upsetting. When someone is under surveillance, they usually get a gut feeling that something is wrong. But the spy lingers in the shadows never coming clean with their shifty activity.
Some spies are legit of course. And they track down the worst among us. But many abuse their powers or are doing so-called ‘legitimate’ espionage that only later proves absurd and harmful.
John Lennon once said on live TV that the FBI was spying on him. People thought he was paranoid but guess what?
They were tracking him, and some fringe theorists believe they also killed him (which I personally doubt).
Today we hear that revered singer Aretha Franklin was also a target of the FBI’s spies.
How many good people in the 21st century are being tracked by paranoid spies and the heavies they work for? And how many of those targets will be deemed paranoid themselves if they say anything about suspecting their privacy is being violated?
History suggests that many spies are creepy misfits who choose their career because they have no other options and also because it’s a good fit for them. They get a bit of vicarious excitement that otherwise they wouldn’t encounter. Their pathetic social skills in the real world make them feel lonely, and spying sort of fills that void for them—even if they are for the most part living out a fantasy relationship colored by their own inner demons.
Earthpages.org 
fixed typo – prologue to prolong
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