No Where To Escape
This could refer to the human race at this evolutionary point in time. It certainly seems the noose is tightening---more like an array of nooses all at once. You have to wonder at what point are we past the point of no return? How most people on this planet now live is beyond comprehension---in some sort of Modern Dark Ages, increasing exponentially.
But the title above really refers to the technological advances which make it possible to track individuals via satellite or pilotless planes or helicopters, etc. Dissidents of any sort, without the money and thus the equipment to compete with entrenched governmental resources, are being rendered impotent as an organized force. We see pictures of how this modern day surveillance can help us track down terrorists, robbers, prison escapees, etc. And we say, "Good! They have no where to escape. We got their asses!." And indeed we do. BUT, it is not all good news. This also empowers oppressive governments to suppress the ability of their own people to overthrow them. AND, it also ensures that the only way to fight oppression anymore is via terroristic acts. THAT IS TO SAY you really can't gather together in meetings because if one member is being monitored via satellite, all will get blown up with a 'smart' missile at such a meeting. So it boils down to evasive internet communications with group action pretty much out of the question, including peaceful demonstrations in many countries. There really is left no option but terrorism. This, to me, is really scary. Dissidents of all sorts, good or bad causes, are being backed into a corner in which, in more and more countries, the only option of action left is to create chaos via terrorism. How, for example, are the people of Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. suppose to engage themselves in any battles for justice? And guess exactly who those most suited to terrorism are? Yep, the thugsters in every society. We have individuals in every country now who thrive on terrorism---including torture, killing innocent people, maximizing infrastructure damage, and find the adrenalin rush of it all as stimulating as those individuals who engage in dangerous sports for the same kind of adrenalin rush.
When a person says, "War is hell" they can only speak for themselves. There are those for whom war is a way of life, the only activity which gives meaning to their existence. Driven by a belief that their side is 'right' or merely that certain 'others' deserve all the pain and degradation imaginable, these people---turned loose--have no empathy for whomever, at the moment, is their enemy---or even a friend or relative of their 'enemy'. And these days, you can bet any 'enemy' is rarely in uniform. SO HOW THEN do you identify your enemy? Often the information comes in through informants. SO, you don't like your neighbor, you are really really mad at someone----you turn them in. Off to interrogation they go. OR, you really are part of the enemy, if only a chauffeur, a relative, a friend of one of their friends, sold something to the wrong person, etc. and yet your relationship to the leaders is so superficial that you most likely know nothing of importance. Well, after a little water boarding, sexual humiliation, food and sleep deprivation, etc. you will cough up names---of course you will---and most likely it will be selective, like people who you would like to share this current experience with---and thus more people will be rounded up in the middle of the night and dragged in for interrogation. A high ranking American official at Abighab (SP), the famous detention center in Iraq, claimed 90% of those detained were not terrorists at all, just turned in by informants who wished them ill.
OF COURSE, if it is ok for one group to torture prisoners, it is OK THEN for any opposing group to torture their prisoners. LOGICALLY, why then is it not ok for anyone to torture, disrespect, and humiliate their perceived enemies? There can be no ethics if ethics has no broad application. Selective morality defeats the morality in question. People like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld not only have some ego centric unlimited financial greed priorities, but they are what one could best describe as cowardly thugs. Cheney weaseled 5 deferments to get out of the Vietnam War. The whole cabal of right wing mentors for George Bush have never themselves ever put themselves in harm's way for any cause. Yet their eagerness to give others the green light to behave like street thugs and savages is seemingly unlimited. Their whole world, to them, is filled with self imagined 'good' guys and 'evil' guys. As their puppet George 'Hunches' Bush, a born again something or other, would sum it up, "if you are not with 'us' you are against us" And you can bet the 'us' does not include anyone outside his own inner circle. According to long standing polls, Bush's 'us' does not include like 70% of the American people.
At any rate, THE POINT IS--- this ability to monitor individuals via satellites, un-maned planes, helicopters, etc may seem a great advance in certain cases, but the broader implication is that this ability will be most useful to tyrannical regimes across the globe who will thus be able to eliminate any kind of public dissidence, any kind of open opposition. I love watching escaped convicts, or robbers, or wartime enemies being hunted down by all this technology, but what it means to civilized society and tyrannical regimes in the bigger picture is really scary. I think we know, when this kind of ability exists, it is most useful for all the 'street thug' mentalities across the globe. Terrorism favors these kind of people, and these kind of people, once in power, will use these techniques to stay in power.
Maybe in the future it will be best to know no one, get involved in nothing, and live away from crowded areas where terrorism will flourish. If you can be the dumbest, most isolated, and least involved person in society, maybe---just maybe---you will be least likely to be blown up, turned in, tortured, humiliated, or get a 'smart' bomb up your ass. THAT IS, until somebody's enemies seek refuge in your area. Watch out then! Good luck to all of us, especially the young for whom all this will be their inheritance.
