And if you didn't want to be categorized as a "lone wolf" potential terrorist, you never should have bought that Bass Pro hat.

Federal agencies have long kept an eye on suspicious purchases by Americans considered potential troublemakers. Flash back 50 years, and the feds likely tracked buyers of The Anarchist Cookbook (1971), a book chockful of bad advice that caused boneheaded hippie bomb makers to blow themselves up.

But the federal surveillance net has vastly increased since the 1970s. Nowadays, the feds are flagging people who purchase Bibles and "other media containing extremist views," according to a report by the House Judiciary Committee.

Technology is propelling new threats to freedom. A March 2024 report by the House Judiciary Committee noted that "the decline of cash and the rise of digital payments and e-commerce platforms….As a result, these financial institutions often act as arms of federal law enforcement as they work in coordination with federal law enforcement to identify what transactions and other information is 'suspicious' enough to be reported." Greater computer resources make it vastly cheaper to store dirt on practically any private citizen.