Source: finance.yahoo.com

Just like the Arab countries had their spring of discontent uprisings two years ago, the U.S. looks to be embarking on its own season of outrage today. The list of revelations that are currently riling the masses seems to grow by the day and include improper probes into our privacy by the IRS, the Department of Justice tapping reporters' phones, and now stories of a widespread secret surveillance program by the CIA and NSA.

Taken together, the reports portray a government that is snooping into our personal, professional and political lives in ways previously only deemed possible by our adversaries.

When asked whether he felt the U.S. or China was the bigger hacker, John Mauldin, founder of Mauldin Economic and author of the Thoughts from The Frontline newsletter, said we've become our own worst enemy.

"Because (they) the U.S. government, basically get permission to go in, and the Chinese have to poke and prod and work at it," he says in the attached video. "It makes me uncomfortable that they (the federal government) have access to all of that data," he adds, predicting that the trend is going to "become more of a problem" in the future.

Interestingly, the issue of cyber-security was a prominent area of negotiation at this past weekend's talks between the U.S. and China in California, with President Obama saying that it was going to be a "very difficult problem in the economic relationship" between the two countries.

For the record, Mauldin refers to himself as a libertarian and says he doesn't think the trend will end anytime soon. Instead he suggests, "what we may need to do is limit how the data can be used against a person. We need to set some boundaries up front, if not, we won't have any privacy."