Strongly recommend The Lives Of Others. It's not absurdist like Strangelove, but it does address the psychology and motivations of those doing the surveillance.
It also gets at the culture of corruption surveillance and power engender.
Though when you realize that the surveillance required dedicated observers and resulted in paper records, you realize how vastly more capable current US operations are.
Are there any contemporary figures as "interesting" as Curtis LeMay, Herman Kahn or Thomas Power - the latter being the man who said while head of SAC:
"Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards. At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win"
Dianne Feinstein is way over on the side of the surveillance state, while the BRIC market share withers out from under her constituents' companies. You have to wonder where that is coming from.
came here to suggest people who are interested in where kubrick got his model for the character dr strangelove to study herman kahn. just read a book about him - 'the worlds of herman kahn' - and cannot recommend it enough for this subject. his book 'on thermonuclear war' was widely talked about when it came out in the 60s, one of the huge impacts that RAND had on our society.
it was an absurd time as the world changed so radically so quickly and strategists scrambled to figure out doctrine, policy, strategy, and how to use the emerging thinking of game theory.
another book on the evolution of nuclear policy is 'the dead hand', which looks at the emergence of nuclear deterrence from the first bomb through the recent years following the breakup of the USSR. the dead hand referred to in the title is the failsafe the soviets built to strike back once they had been demolished.
Ever see he SNL bit where Tina fey just read word for word quotes from Sarah Palin revealing their complete absurdity? Hilarious and very pointed commentary in one.
Is it impotence that causes people to surveil? Some other voyeuristic impulse? Could be fun to explore.