For some 140 years, the United States did not have an Espionage Act. It didn't come into existence until 1917, when U.S. officials used it to punish Americans who had the audacity to question the U.S. intervention into World War I, an intervention that ultimately led to the rise of the Hitler regime in the 1930s.

No one can deny that the United States did not fall into the ocean during those 140 years when it didn't have an Espionage Act. So, the question naturally arises: How did the country survive without an Espionage Act for almost a century and a half?

Just think: The whole world was free to spy on America without fear of being prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated by U.S. officials. Think about how scary that must have been for all those Americans who were living during those 140 years.

After all, everyone knows that the whole world wants to spy on America. And without an Espionage Act, we all know that everyone in the world would spend large portions of their lives and fortunes spying on America.