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RACING TOWARDS THE MARK
"And He causeth all, both
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark"
Rev.13:16,17
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Security in America—sometimes invisible, but
present nonetheless. |
Let the chips fall…
John W. Whitehead, Razormouth
"Government by clubs and firing squads is not merely inhumane (nobody
much cares about that nowadays); it is demonstrably inefficient—and in
an age of advanced technology, inefficiency is the sin against the Holy
Ghost."—Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
Caught up in a web of fear, the American people are nervous about
terrorism, terrified of crime, leery of foreigners and suspicious of
their neighbors. In fact, Americans have become almost paralyzed by
fears both imagined and real.
As sociologist Barry Glassner points out in his book The Culture of
Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, Americans often
"compound our worries beyond all reason," overreacting to the slightest
concern. "High levels of fear and anxiety also create unfortunate
social conditions, like people being more willing to give up civil
liberties."
It is within the context of this culture of fear that we must view
America's current love affair with security. Alarmed by the government's
vague warnings about terrorist attacks that could take any form, at any
time, anywhere, many Americans have exhibited an amiable tolerance for
intrusions into their private lives.
Indeed, from government watch lists to secret wiretaps, Americans,
especially since 9/11, are increasingly and willingly becoming targets
of government surveillance. For example, under the guise of aiding in
the search for terrorists, the Pentagon's Total Awareness Program was
designed to collect a person's financial, medical, communication and
travel records in a massive database. Yet the definition of a suspected
terrorist under the infamous USA Patriot Act is so broad that it can
include anyone.
Innocent, law-abiding citizens are being watched, photographed and
catalogued in government files. The logic is deviously simple: to be
sure of apprehending the criminal minority, it is necessary that the
law-abiding majority be supervised. In this way, every citizen would
eventually be thoroughly known to the police and would live under
conditions of discreet surveillance. As Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU has
said, "Many people still do not grasp that Big Brother surveillance is
no longer the stuff of books and movies."
The proffered rationale for this super-surveillance—this use of
technology to create an electronic concentration camp—is to anticipate
and forestall crime. However, unlike the methods of the Nazi regime,
there will be no overt suffering associated with this
national/international concentration camp in the world of the
near-future. In this world, the police exist only to protect "good"
citizens.
Such protection will require that the police track the movements of all
citizens with the use of computers and electronic devices.
Low-cost microchips are currently available and can be engrafted under
the skin (some test humans have already had this done), planted in
wristwatches or even on the clothes you buy (a technique presently being
used by many clothing retailers). Pinpoint computer chips and tiny
antennae—less than the size of an ant's head—are also being used to
track inventory and prevent theft of items like razor blades and
medicine in grocery stores and pharmacies. Within two decades, the
minuscule transmitters are expected to replace bar codes.
These chips can also act as homing devices to locate you anywhere, at
any time, through a multitude of special sensors or by satellite. Called
radio frequency identification, this technology will eventually allow
whoever is in control to access all the information contained on a chip,
including its exact location, even from great distances.
Supporters of these surveillance systems suggest that only individuals
who are "up to no good" would object to having their whereabouts known
at all times. Others insist it is simply the price we pay for the luxury
of progress—or that's what we will be told by the media and our
government.
Given the willingness of the populace to buy the argument that such
intrusions into our private lives are necessary to combat crime or the
ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, life in the electronic
concentration camp seems inevitable.
(Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and
president of The Rutherford Institute.)
[end of article]
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