Guest Post by Tom Valovic
U.S. citizens are being subjected to a relentless onslaught from intrusive technologies embedded in the everyday fabric of our lives, creating unprecedented levels of social and political upheaval.
A few years ago, I was having dinner with a friend who worked at Google. As we were discussing the ins and outs of the tech world, he casually remarked: “Google is going to take over the world you know.”
Driving home and reflecting on that remark I thought: “How curious.” But now, as I contemplate the shambles our democracy has become, I’m more inclined to think: “How prescient.”
Democracy is under threat — not just in the U.S. but in many other countries as well.
But the precipitous actions of newly minted authoritarian leaders and the turmoil in Western democracies are just a few of the puzzle pieces needed to figure out how we got to this point.
Another less discussed trend is that U.S. citizens are being subjected to a relentless onslaught from intrusive technologies that have become embedded in the everyday fabric of our lives, creating unprecedented levels of social and political upheaval.
Advanced computer technology and the internet have given us many wonderful gifts when rightly applied.
But we now know they can also be terrible taskmasters, impersonal forces that can dehumanize our personal interactions, cause severe mental health problems (especially for teenage girls), and serve as a de-facto wealth transfer mechanism to the billionaire class.
Still, we accept the negatives because of the positive benefits. In this sense, we might even call hyper-technology a Grand Seduction. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded onto the scene and threatens to monkey-wrench our lives in unimaginable ways.
The limitations of these widely used technologies are well known. They include social media and what Harvard professor Shoshanna Zuboff calls “surveillance capitalism” — the buying and selling of our personal info and even our DNA in the corporate marketplace.
But powerful new ones are poised to create another wave of radical change. Under the mantle of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” these include AI, the metaverse, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Bodies (in which our physical and health data is added into the mix to be processed by AI) and my personal favorite, police robots.
All of these technologies will be enhanced and amplified by the use of 5G and 6G communications via a rapidly expanding satellite system provided by Elon Musk.
This is a two-pronged effort involving both powerful corporations and government initiatives. These tech-based systems are operating “below the radar” and are rarely discussed in the mainstream media.
In addition to corporate surveillance, governments are also busy beefing up their own systems. While we tend to associate these sorts of initiatives with the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a groundbreaking article in the Boston Globe has described how pervasive and intrusive surveillance has become even at the state level.
The article methodically details how law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts operate a huge apparatus of drones, license plate readers and devices called cell-site simulators, which pretend to be cell towers in order to capture cellphone signals to pinpoint the location of individuals.
The AI ‘arms race’
AI’s precipitous and dramatic entry into the technology mix has ushered in what Time magazine and other mainstream publications are calling an “AI Arms Race.”
The designation is telling, given that AI has been developed with significant funding from the defense and government sectors.
This accelerated deployment is happening without the benefit of thoughtful political oversight because elected officials, often at a disadvantage in the face of technologies they don’t completely understand, are providing little guidance, regulation or pushback.
Parsing the subtler impact of technology in our lives is tricky. That’s because it sneaks up on us. It doesn’t happen by a vote or by some distinct series of events. Rather, it just creeps along, establishing itself in maddeningly minute increments.
The sum total of these technological intrusions, fostered by government and corporations often working together, constitutes a semi-invisible overlay of technocratic governance that has no central organizing principle, unlike the traditional government structures we’re familiar with.
Just because these systems are “distributed” (to use a little computer jargon) doesn’t mean that they are any less powerful. And while the internet presents the appearance of democratized participation, it’s important to remember that its ultimate Oz-like control is centralized in the deep corridors of Big Tech companies.
Goodbye nation states?
As we see democratic principles slowly vaporize even in Western nations, the fact that Big Tech continues to consolidate its power globally over and above that of nation-states is deeply concerning.
However (just to keep things nice and confusing) sometimes it does this in cooperation with governments via public/private partnerships, a kind of Faustian bargain.
The Time magazine article cited above offered this startling observation:
“Even if computer scientists succeed in making sure the AIs don’t wipe us out, their increasing centrality to the global economy could make the Big Tech companies who control it vastly more powerful.
“They could become not just the richest corporations in the world — charging whatever they want for commercial use of this critical infrastructure — but also geopolitical actors to rival nation-states.”
Some might argue that this has already happened and the nexus of world power is now corporate-leaning. The world’s biggest tech companies are now richer and more powerful than most countries.
According to an article in PC Week in 2021 discussing Apple’s dominance:
“By taking the current valuation of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and others, then comparing them to the GDP of countries on a map, we can see just how crazy things have become. … Valued at $2.2 trillion, the Cupertino company is richer than 96% of the world. In fact, only seven countries currently outrank the maker of the iPhone financially.”
For the moment, these trends appear to be unstoppable, given the levels of corporate investment already at stake and the supine posture and dependency of governments on their largesse.
The best available response for the moment is simply greater public awareness and a commitment to face the contours of this brave new technocratic world head-on and with a clear vision.
Given the astonishingly out-of-control power of the Big Tech sector, it’s also crucial to realize that simply regulating these systems while allowing them to continue to siphon off the power of traditional governments will not be enough to preserve our quality of life going forward.
Originally published by Common Dreams.
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How hard is it for people to figure out that we do not, and have never, lived in a “democracy”. We have a constitutional republic. It may seem like just semantics, but there is a very real difference. Language matters and words mean things and to allow the meanings of those words to be perverted or redefined is to give away our ability to communicate truthfully. So while the author may or may not have made some valid points, his entire premise is tainted.
(rant off)
We have a constitutional republic?
I see what you did there! And you are exactly right.
Had.
Never have. It’s an illusion.
Plus, the CONstitution itself was a usurpation, a coup-d’etat:
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http://www.garynorth.com/philadelphia.pdf
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“But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to exist.”
― Lysander Spooner, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Joe Sobran’s “The Reluctant Anarchist”:
Hans-Hermann Hoppe . . . argued that no constitution could restrain the state. Once its monopoly of force was granted legitimacy, constitutional limits became mere fictions it could disregard; nobody could have the legal standing to enforce those limits. The state itself would decide, by force, what the constitution “meant,” steadily ruling in its own favor and increasing its own power. This was true a priori, and American history bore it out.
What if the Federal Government grossly violated the Constitution? Could states withdraw from the Union? Lincoln said no. The Union was “indissoluble” unless all the states agreed to dissolve it. As a practical matter, the Civil War settled that. The United States, plural, were really a single enormous state, as witness the new habit of speaking of “it” rather than “them.”
So the people are bound to obey the government even when the rulers betray their oath to uphold the Constitution. The door to escape is barred. Lincoln in effect claimed that it is not our rights but the state that is “unalienable.” And he made it stick by force of arms. No transgression of the Constitution can impair the Union’s inherited legitimacy. Once established on specific and limited terms, the U.S. Government is forever, even if it refuses to abide by those terms.
As Hoppe argues, this is the flaw in thinking the state can be controlled by a constitution. Once granted, state power naturally becomes absolute. Obedience is a one-way street. Notionally, “We the People” create a government and specify the powers it is allowed to exercise over us; our rulers swear before God that they will respect the limits we impose on them; but when they trample down those limits, our duty to obey them remains. READ REST: http://www.sobran.com/reluctant.shtml
Thank you for the post. Lot’s of people reference the Federalist Papers. However not many know of the Anti-Federalist Papers done by people like Thomas Jefferson. The Anti-Federalist predicted what would happen once the ‘Constitution’ was enacted. It wasn’t good and they were right.
Hell just look up Shay’s Rebellion. It didn’t take any time at all for things to go to Hell. And screw George Washington for doing what he did in that matter.
This is ENTIRELY the reason for the definitions of words in common usage to be upended.
The usual folks are speaking in terms commonly understood but the communists and satanic cultists use entirely different meanings when using the same words. To these people the definitions are fluid and its to intentionally obfuscate their agendas and cause confusion.
Liberal, for example, means free; not totalitarian or authoritarian or the pigs are more equal, etc.
Oh, and gender is NOT “fluid”:
In caunkistan Liberal in terms means without constraints. In political parties the Liberal party was originally about BIG government, not policies. Today the Liberal party is about both, no restraints on debauchery, no restraints on morally bankrupt policy and no restraints of government growth and intrusions.
Same as our neighbours to the south, same as the ‘western’ governments globally. I wonder what the connections are? <– rhetorical.
The connections are mass compliance.
” . . . every tyranny must necessarily be grounded upon general popular acceptance. In short, the bulk of the people themselves, for whatever reason, acquiesce in their own subjection. If this were not the case, no tyranny, indeed no governmental rule, could long endure. Hence, a government does not have to be popularly elected to enjoy general public support; for general public support is in the very nature of all governments that endure, including the most oppressive of tyrannies. The tyrant is but one person, and could scarcely command the obedience of another person, much less of an entire country, if most of the subjects did not grant their obedience by their own consent.” READ REST:
“Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.”
Compliance and apathy have gotten us where we are now.
The resistance needed to prevent this was redirected away from the criminals and onto their victims. I’d venture to say the psyop worked quite well.
Not on the remnant.
I’d agree. But who are the remnant?
I know, lets vote on it. That should work. Especially if we can just vote in the right guy.
The last two lines may contain a fragment of sarcasm, noted for the sarcasm challenged.
Mass compliance due to the fact that humans were created as a slave class. While the rulers own everything and have all the power at their disposal to crush any rebellion that may arise. The greatest revolutions in history were initiated by them in order to fool the masses and keep them under their grip.
Symbols are critical to their communication as well.
The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionary, Penguin) https://a.co/d/jjT5Ir1
words & languages are sapiens’ camo, mimicry & ambush. that’s biology. thinking, well believing, it to be otherwise, that’s cult/ivated.
we had those those mattering words now we have these mattering words. we loves words.
What we have now is an oligarchy, and it’s been that way since at least November 1963.
And how hard is it for people to figure out that it’s all meaningless one way or the other? The reason being that the ruling class hides behind the facade of different forms of government in order to fool the people and keep them under its yoke.
You would think, that with all their power and influence, you would think that they would push the guberment to spend $5 Billion dollars to harden the grid and protect it from an EMP or CME. Because it’s over for them if either of those things happen.
$5 Billion is a lot of money, yes, but it’s less than is being wasted on graft in Ukraine in a week, and it would prevent trillions of dollars in damages to their infrastructure.
Unless they plan to escape to their de luxe subterranean redoubts in NZ at ten seconds to midnight while surface electronics snap, crackle, and pop.
Having worked in tech and manufacturing for nearly 3 decades I can say unequivocally that the wise, intelligent, rational people you meet on a daily basis in real life are not the ones running the show at these companies. The sociopathic (sometimes psychopathic), narcissistic, manipulative, impulsive people are the ones that make it into the decision making positions. When you combine that with the bureaucracy of accountants, attorneys and H.R., you end up with a corporate entity whose sole function is growth for growth sake. All decisions are made within the framework of how can the most profit be extracted from the least input right now. There is never any thought given to future viability nor is there ever any long term plan out beyond the next couple of years.
Even most of the ESG, woke, or whatever B.S. you want to call it, is done strictly from the view point that a quick profit can be made right now. There is never any thought given to what kind of long term damage might be done financially or even to society at large. There are nothing but reactionary and emotionally charged decisions being made with zero thought put into the longer term ramifications. And there is damn sure no morality involved at any level.
With all of this in mind, to the question posed by Warren, there is no immediate profit in spending that capital to protect the business. There is no quantifiable return on the investment out to any time frame. I promise you the ones most effected will have done probability studies to determine what the likelihood of something like that happening under the current execs’ watch and they have deemed that probability too low to justify a cut in their end of year bonuses, so it ain’t gonna happen. It can be someone else’s problem.
Of course there are exceptions. There are some visionaries and some with moral integrity that understand the value in building something for the future. But those people are a very small minority in a giant sea of self important mediocrity.
I know this first hand as our entire business model is coming in after the fact and cleaning up the messes left behind by these people. I can tell you that managing the egos and feelings of those idiots while trying to undo all of their mistakes is oftentimes harder than the actual work.
The time for shrugging is fast approaching.
Preach it brother. MacLeod corporate pyramid.
I can see it clearly in the rear view.
trapezius. for the shrugging. & flying from the trapeze.
But they wouldn’t have to spend a dime of their own money, all they would have to do is use their tech to push and lobby the fedgov to do so.That’s the thig, the government doesn’t want to spend the money there, but have no problem sending more than that to be flushed down.in.Ukraine on a weekly basis. 95% of which is being stolen.
If the grid goes down those people will mostly be dead within 90 days.
People care more about their stupid phone then they do about their human rights. It’s pathetic how lame humanity has become.
yeah. but some smartphoners are more equal than others.
All phones matter.
Nation-States have alway been a front behind which the true rulers of the world reign.
Democracy is just an illusion created by the owners of the system with the intention of gaining your trust. It was a trap from the get go and most people fell for it. Now they got you by the balls.
Hopefully not my bauls