Again, this is the whole point of ubiquitous surveillance in a police state: the suppression of independent critical thinking, speech, and action. Maybe you disagree. Fair enough. But think about the future... If your data are being warehoused for all time, who’s to say that you won’t be found guilty of a new crime 10 years from now? Maybe it’ll be a thought crime. Or maybe it’ll be some pattern detected in your data that shows you’re on the path to some radical action. You’ll be guilty of “pre-crime,” like in Philip K. Dick’s short story, The Minority Report . Am I exaggerating? No. In fact, get a load of this... Have you heard of Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART)? It’s Homeland Security’s creepy new database that will look to match up your face... your DNA... as well as people’s “non-obvious social relationships” (think of the people you may be friends with on Facebook, for example). Well... despite opposition from Congress, it’s going full steam ahead... and, of course, Homeland Security uses the Amazon cloud. GO DARK, WALK AWAY, SPREAD THE WORD You need to walk away from social media completely... and with haste.
AS ABROAD, SO AT HOME None of this might bother you if you are secure in the belief that the tools made by the tech companies for the Deep State are only used to detect and destroy America’s enemies. They’re only doing their job, right? And Amazon is only doing its patriotic duty, right? After all, the Deep State began to grow in earnest in the years immediately following World War II to combat the growing threat of the Soviet Union. America couldn’t have won the Cold War without the help of GE, Boeing, and IBM. The companies and the enemies are different today... But isn’t the issue basically the same? And if you’re skeptical about my claim, please read this very carefully: The very same model the Deep State uses to run counterinsurgencies against governments overseas is being used now against Americans in America. This is dangerous. And it’s wrong. Why? America was founded on the idea of limited government, with individual liberty as its core value. The State has no business watching us all the time – at least, not in what’s supposed to be a “free country.” But there’s more to it. You can’t really be free if you’re looking over your shoulder all the time. When you know that you’re being watched, you start watching what you say. If you’re watching what you say, it means you’re watching what you think. And if you’re watching what you think, you stop thinking.
26
August 2019
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