everything we know about politics is wrong (creeping authoritarianism version)

In my last post I wrote about the PRISM surveillance scandal and how creeping authoritarianism is oozing outward from the United States government/ Why would this happen?

A number of theories abound, of course–everything from the Illuminati to the United Nations to the accusation that President Obama is a socialist.

What has been very noteworthy is the involvement of private contractors in these surveillance efforts. Edward Snowden worked for Booz Allen Hamilton when he chose to blow the whistle on the NSA. Other companies involved in the development of this surveillance state have been Northrup Grumman, Narus (now owned by Boeing), and Palantir.  There are likely others. Furthermore, Google has access to much of our private data as does every Internet Service Provider.

This development calls to mind President Eisenhower’s farewell address in 1961 where, among other things, he warns about the power of what he called the military-industrial complex.  I’ve posted a video of his speech below in its entirety so that viewers can get the context of it.  Also worth seeing is a video about Eisenhower’s desire to talk about the military industrial complex.  Reportedly, while still in the White House, the President would get angry upon seeing a magazine advertisement by a military contractor boasting about their involvement, and throw the magazine into the fireplace. To what extent did President Eisenhower see this creeping authoritarianism slipping in with the military-industrial complex?

A noteworthy question when thinking about recent developments with the revelations about PRISM is whether the “balance” that Eisenhower frequently exhorted in his farewell address still exists today, especially when so much of our personal information is in the hands of these private contractors…

Power corrupts, and access to so much data can corrupt absolutely. But while the presence of this military-industrial complex might be part of the issue, I’m convinced that Big Brother’s influences in the United States government exists for reasons beyond the existence of the military-industrial complex.  I will write more about this in another post…