The U.S. Surveillance State Expands: Life Under Constant Watch

[Better Believe It]

Weekend Edition May 4-6, 2012
The Surveillance State
Life Under Constant Watch
by FIRMIN DeBRABANDER

The surveillance state expands. Since 9-11, our phones are subject to warrantless wiretaps. Our email and internet transactions leave a trail for some to follow. The police can access our GPS location data through our smart phones, also without a warrant. Retailers record our purchasing habits with painstaking detail. Apparently, Target studies those purchases to determine when customers are pregnant—in the second trimester no less—for specialized marketing purposes.

And now, there will be surveillance drones. Congress recently passed a bill that opens the gates to widespread use of surveillance drones on US soil. There has been relatively little coverage of this alarming development: drones, so far associated with our illegal war in Pakistan and Yemen, are soon to become a domestic mainstay. On our shores, they will be used for law enforcement and border protection, but also commercially, for real estate, entertainment and journalistic purposes, for example. One prominent drone showcased on the internet is a hummingbird drone. As the name suggests, it’s tiny, quick and highly mobile. A popular video shows the hummingbird drone entering a building and flying down a corridor, transmitting everything it sees. Imagine the possibilities.

In his book Discipline and Punish, the French philosopher Michel Foucault argues that constant surveillance has a devastating effect. It’s a subtle form of oppression. When we feel we are being watched, we are more self-conscious of our behavior, more likely to watch what we do and conform to what we think the surveyors want or expect. The hawks among us say this is a good thing: if you’re doing nothing wrong, what do you have to fear from a hummingbird drone? But it’s not as simple as that.

The political problem with all this surveillance is obvious, if we’d care to admit it. The political authorities have so much more access to the details of our lives, and in the wrong hands, could do real harm. The only thing protecting us is the character of those in power who collect all this information—and swear they will do nothing objectionable with it. Regarding the new National Defense Authorization Act, which sanctions the president’s power to detain indefinitely or even assassinate US citizens suspected of involvement in terrorist organizations, Obama tried to allay fears by arguing that his administration will use discretion and judgment in exercising this power. What about subsequent administrations? Our founding fathers were highly concerned to design a government that was impervious to corruption by the character flaws of individual office holders. The War on Terror has steadily rendered us vulnerable to just that.

Read the full article at:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/04/life-under-constant-watch/

[MichiganVote]

1. We have no protection. That ended with a board and water.

[Better Believe It]

2. FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now

And here is yet more information on the federal governments latest efforts to increase surveillance of our movements, ideas and activities posted by another DU'er:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002646721

[UnrepentantLiberal]

3. Choose whatever metaphore or quote you want...

This is insane.

We're losing our freedoms, one after another.

[PADemD]

4. Target and pregnancy

That's funny. What if you are buying a baby shower gift?

[msongs]

5. part of Obama's legacy - the aerial police state watching 24/7, ready to blast you to smithereens nt

[Bolo Boffin]

6. More negative framing.

Welcome to the general election season in the presidential contest!

[HiPointDem]

8. not everything is about the bloody election.

[Bolo Boffin]

9. No, not everything.

But those people in that video, do they seem like they're living in an Orwellian uber-nanny state?

[HiPointDem]

10. the video doesn't have anything to do with the op, nor does your post as far as i can tell.

[Bolo Boffin]

11. The exuberant video is a counterpoint to the Counterpunch bummer article.

Turn that frown upside down, HiPointDem.

[HiPointDem]

13. You seem to believe that the existence of happy exuberant people discredits the OP.

[Bolo Boffin]

14. Have some soma, citizen! n/t

[Fumesucker]

19. You have some left?

Now that _is_ surprising..

[HiPointDem]

7. k&r. one of the most insidious developments of our time, and we just sit back like it's not

happening.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. "Transparency" for the government..rather than of the government.

[whatchamacallit]

15. It sickens me to see people on this site so eager to give up their liberties

and mine.

[quinnox]

16. I hated the big brotherism of the Bush presidency and

I hate it being continued and even expanded by Obama, just because he is a Dem doesn't make it ok all of a sudden. There are some things that its very difficult to spin positively.

[global1]

17. Question: Will The Ones Doing The Watching Be Watched As Well?.......nt

[KG]

18. DURec

[MrYikes]

20. Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the

Democratic Party. It's a comin folks. With just a name change, no longer Joe McCarthy.

[IDemo]

22. Good Germanism thrives

I think that the arrival of social networking and other factors has left a large number of our population perplexed by the concept that privacy might be a desirable thing. I could blame the Zuckerberg virus, but our entire culture seems to have embraced total transparency (except for that government part). Of course, the "I'm not doing anything wrong, so..." segment has always been there to prop up their authoritarian heroes, and likely always will be.