Southern Bread

Robert Higg’s book Crisis and Leviathan documented what he calls the “ratchet effect”, where the state uses wartime to ratchet up it’s power, and then incorporates those new wartime powers into peacetime. The effect is an overall, long term ratcheting up of state power and control through the mechanism of war. For instance, the precedent of nationalizing certain industries was firmly established during World War II when the government took over many companies for the purpose of re-tooling them for war goods production. For that reason, there has been nary a peep from the court on the constitutionality of the Obama and Bush administrations taking over GM and Chrysler.

And that brings me to this story that Drudge linked to this morning: “FAA Under Pressure To Open US Skies to Drones.” Quoting from the article:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Unmanned aircraft have proved their usefulness and reliability in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the pressure’s on to allow them in the skies over the United States.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions but has been hesitant to act.

–Joan Lowy, AP

So, given this quote, you might think that the FAA has been hesitant to act because of the implications on our liberty and freedom. Not so. They are more worried about making sure they’re safe:

Officials are worried that they might plow into airliners, cargo planes and corporate jets that zoom around at high altitudes, or helicopters and hot air balloons that fly as low as a few hundred feet off the ground.

On top of that, these pilotless aircraft come in a variety of sizes. Some are as big as a small airliner, others the size of a backpack. The tiniest are small enough to fly through a house window.

–Joan Lowy, AP

But wait, you say. It’s not like the government is going to use these things to bomb cities and such. This isn’t Iraq, after all, where the state war machine can kill people with impunity. This is America. Maybe not:

The Predator B, already in use for border patrol, can fly for 20 hours without refueling, compared with a helicopter’s average flight time of just over two hours. Homeland Security wants to expand their use along the borders of Mexico and Canada, and along coastlines for spotting smugglers of drugs and illegal aliens. The Coast Guard wants to use them for search and rescue.

–Joan Lowy, AP

So, I ask: how long will it be before these drones begin to terrorize anyone who is a threat to state power? Homeland Security(the scariest name for a state department outside of Minority Report) says they will use them to patrol the border and “spot” (i.e. shoot) drug smugglers and illegal alien smugglers. Give it a little time and they will move up to “spotting” (i.e. leveling) meth labs in rural areas. After all, why wouldn’t they? They already send in SWAT teams on drug raids where they often end up killing innocent people by breaking down doors and running in with guns. Wouldn’t it be far more efficient for them to just unleash their indiscriminate destruction from the air?

The story also relates how eager local law enforcement agencies are to get their hands on these drone aircraft:

State police hope to send them up to capture images of speeding cars’ license plates. Local police envision using them to track fleeing suspects.

–Joan Lowy, AP

So, just using some more logic, if the police want to use drones to “track” fleeing suspects, what would stop them from using those same drones to kill fleeing suspects if they thought they were dangerous? Wouldn’t that make the most sense? Cities like Birmingham, AL already have gunshot detectors scattered around the city to pick up the sound of gunfire and alert police. If you combine these with drones that can track a suspect fleeing the scene of a shooting, why not take him out? The police on the ground don’t hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later. Why would that change when using drones?

Civil liberties have slowly rotted away in this country over many decades. I blame myself for being blind to it in the past. I used to be in favor of things such as the Patriot Act because I bought the media hook line and sinker. Now I have seen this type of thing for what it is. Full body nude scans in airports and drones over our cities are not “necessary.” They are techniques the state is using to put us under their thumb. William Pitt said “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” (Speech, House of Commons, 18 November 1783)