That's the excuse they used to close down Snowden "Natl Security Threat" - and the excuse they will use when they escalate the military state that has been developing in the US now for decades, with the advent of the Homeland Defense Department, and the ability of the deep state to now spy and operate on Americans (including use of propaganda) as much as the deep state does abroad.
This is nothing new when it comes to tyranny, and oppression backed up by brute force and deceit. One of the oldest rationales in the book: that in the name of security, the state has the right to take away your freedom, to disappear you from society, to silence you via whatever means they can (social media banning, censorship) or by deceitfully writing hit pieces against you on Wikipedia or other state controlled outlets.
I think it's on the verge of it getting much worse for Americans, as the economy begins to descend into depression if not collapse, and the needs and hopes of ordinary Americans are crushed by Totalitarian rule - and a militarized police and deep state that have become akin to the German gestapo - ruling our lives with constant surveillance, deceit and absolute power.
The Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt reponded to criticisms of Nazi totalitarianism by saying that all states are inherently totalitarian because they make totalitarian claims, such as claiming that they have the legitimate power of life and death over their citizens/subjects/inhabitants, and any and all of their property and environment. In his view, states may assume liberal form, but when threatened (or when their ruling classes think they are threatened) the liberal forms are dropped.
Schmitt could be proven wrong if there were a culture that imposed strong limits on the state, but we don't seem to observe that in the present US except on the fringes of the society, and the fringes are small and hate one another (for the most part).
When you have corporate power conjoined with state, you approach fascism. We see that in the US more and more everyday. From the mass eviction of ordinary Americans from their homes by the banks - with laws that they helped produce because the banks have corrupted the state, and act as a proxy to the state - and the obvious mass surveillance we now see in the US of American citizens - and the increasing encroaching of fundamental American liberties (such as personal privacy), again with the state using corporate power as a proxy and closely operating with.
I think another ominous sign is the removal of on-hand cash, more and more as a form of legal tender. Instead, you must rely on a corporately run plastic card in order to purchase your food and gas etc. The banks (and paypal) have already arbitrarily begun shutting down the financial accounts of Americans who do not comply with official propaganda (protestors, outspoken Americans on multi-media platforms). The state/corporate power of censorship (speech and growing financial) has now become a new normal for Americans.
The essence of fascism might be said to reside in Mussolini's formulation:
"Everything within the state, nothing outside of the state, nothing against the state." The government, the corporations, other institutions (such as religious organizations) can be used towards this end. Mussolini didn't invent this idea, but he gave it a very compact formulation. Given that some people desire power over others, the appeal of the idea to some is not surprising, but it is surprising to see how many people whose primary motive in life is not domination are willing to go along with it. I would like to know how to oppose or subvert the idea, but I can't claim any general success.
Given how they will run over protestors with police cars, and shoot them whenever they want - I'm not sure either, except with Americans willing to risk life and limb (and their corporate job and bank account) to regain their lost democracy. I don't see that happening anytime soon. So, at this point I imagine an entire collapse of the system will have to take place before any positive change occurs.
By then, you and I will likely be long gone. I'm already retired, so the sand in my hourglass is already rapidly approaching the end. And more and more these days, I've been asking myself, what then (if anything)? What was the point of me or any of this?
That's the excuse they used to close down Snowden "Natl Security Threat" - and the excuse they will use when they escalate the military state that has been developing in the US now for decades, with the advent of the Homeland Defense Department, and the ability of the deep state to now spy and operate on Americans (including use of propaganda) as much as the deep state does abroad.
This is nothing new when it comes to tyranny, and oppression backed up by brute force and deceit. One of the oldest rationales in the book: that in the name of security, the state has the right to take away your freedom, to disappear you from society, to silence you via whatever means they can (social media banning, censorship) or by deceitfully writing hit pieces against you on Wikipedia or other state controlled outlets.
I think it's on the verge of it getting much worse for Americans, as the economy begins to descend into depression if not collapse, and the needs and hopes of ordinary Americans are crushed by Totalitarian rule - and a militarized police and deep state that have become akin to the German gestapo - ruling our lives with constant surveillance, deceit and absolute power.
The Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt reponded to criticisms of Nazi totalitarianism by saying that all states are inherently totalitarian because they make totalitarian claims, such as claiming that they have the legitimate power of life and death over their citizens/subjects/inhabitants, and any and all of their property and environment. In his view, states may assume liberal form, but when threatened (or when their ruling classes think they are threatened) the liberal forms are dropped.
Schmitt could be proven wrong if there were a culture that imposed strong limits on the state, but we don't seem to observe that in the present US except on the fringes of the society, and the fringes are small and hate one another (for the most part).
When you have corporate power conjoined with state, you approach fascism. We see that in the US more and more everyday. From the mass eviction of ordinary Americans from their homes by the banks - with laws that they helped produce because the banks have corrupted the state, and act as a proxy to the state - and the obvious mass surveillance we now see in the US of American citizens - and the increasing encroaching of fundamental American liberties (such as personal privacy), again with the state using corporate power as a proxy and closely operating with.
I think another ominous sign is the removal of on-hand cash, more and more as a form of legal tender. Instead, you must rely on a corporately run plastic card in order to purchase your food and gas etc. The banks (and paypal) have already arbitrarily begun shutting down the financial accounts of Americans who do not comply with official propaganda (protestors, outspoken Americans on multi-media platforms). The state/corporate power of censorship (speech and growing financial) has now become a new normal for Americans.
The essence of fascism might be said to reside in Mussolini's formulation:
"Everything within the state, nothing outside of the state, nothing against the state." The government, the corporations, other institutions (such as religious organizations) can be used towards this end. Mussolini didn't invent this idea, but he gave it a very compact formulation. Given that some people desire power over others, the appeal of the idea to some is not surprising, but it is surprising to see how many people whose primary motive in life is not domination are willing to go along with it. I would like to know how to oppose or subvert the idea, but I can't claim any general success.
Given how they will run over protestors with police cars, and shoot them whenever they want - I'm not sure either, except with Americans willing to risk life and limb (and their corporate job and bank account) to regain their lost democracy. I don't see that happening anytime soon. So, at this point I imagine an entire collapse of the system will have to take place before any positive change occurs.
By then, you and I will likely be long gone. I'm already retired, so the sand in my hourglass is already rapidly approaching the end. And more and more these days, I've been asking myself, what then (if anything)? What was the point of me or any of this?