The most recent violence in Dallas has started the whole debate about the modern American police state…..plus all the deaths of civilians at the hands of the police……I have written about the militarization of the police forces in the past…..but I do enjoy my historic perspectives….
I found an excellent paper written for the Foundation of Economic Education on the subject……
By focusing on counter-subversion rather than rolling back the state, Cold War conservatism consolidated the imperial military establishment and laid the foundations for a domestic garrison state.
Following World War II, there was no general demobilization in the United States — something that had never happened before in the nation’s history. In 1947, Congress passed the National Security Act, which created the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and created the framework for a permanent, globe-spanning military establishment under the aegis of what was now called the Department of Defense. Five years later, the National Security Agency, which originated as the US Army’s Cipher Bureau and Military Intelligence Branch in World War I, was given institutional permanence as well.
All I ask is that this article is read with an open mind……that may be an impossible task sometimes…but please try…..
While it is useful to examine the course of events which led to our current mess, it’s a bit like slamming the barn door AFTER the horses have run off. Plus, you’re right re: the ADD attention span which most of the public possesses makes any rational teaching a somewhat futile occupation… Maybe we should just use their easily manipulable nature to turn them the other way ’round; manipulate everyone into being sane….
Couldn’t hurt to try, and it might work better than actually expecting anyone to think, which is something they’ve been taught never to do…..
SIGH….
gigoid, the dubious
Reminds me of the words of “Working Class Hero”….”they keep you doped with sex and tv u think you are so classless and free…but u are fucking peasants as far as I can see” (probably a paraphrase)…chuq
Exactly right…. whether paraphrased or not… I’m thinking it might be time to manipulate the masses in a more rational direction; it might demean our own sense of honorable purpose, but, apparently they aren’t willing to do any thinking for themselves, so, why should we not help them?
(That’s an ironic, rhetorical query, of course. If we manipulate them, we become our enemy…)
I’m beginning to think we are truly Homo Suicidus, as we continue to block off every path to progress with our own stupidity & unwillingness to adopt a rational frame of mind, preferring to allow others to do the thinking…
Makes me SIGH a lot….
gigoid, the dubious
Sadly the media is in the pocket of government and its propaganda arm….takes hard headed a/holes like me to keep harping…..chuq
I read it with an open mind. It made an interesting and fairly decent historically-based argument.
“Our police are among the foremost guardians of freedom and thus a major target of the Communists,” Kirkpatrick insisted…“The better the force, the greater its efficiency, the higher its competence in preserving the peace, the more vital it is for the Communists to destroy it.”
Crap, where have I heard that before? It sounds so familiar. Any action that binds the hands of police favours “communists”, if not the intentional result of “communist subversion.”
Just exchange “communist” with whoever The Powers That Be feel threatened by at the time…dirty hippies, people who want peace & democratic reform, black folks who don’t want to be killed by cops..anything deviating from the accepted norm.
Achieving such a victory would mean providing police with “a capability of dealing with both the subversive and militant aspects of Communism. This requires an internal security mechanism which provides an investigative apparatus capable of identifying and developing information on subversive individuals and organizations and capable of neutralizing their activities… in addition to performing routine police duties, must be capable of controlling demonstrations, riots, and other civil disorders.”
Again, it’s oh-so familiar. Using enemies to justify police goonery and mass surveillance. This culture was implanted in the 40’s, took root and has been expanded.
And people still wonder what’s going on with all the police brutality and shootings. It’s not as if it came out of nowhere.
demonizing foes to make it seem as if they are more instrumental than they really are…
I think the over-hyped “demons” are just the excuse to do what they always wanted to do anyway, (if only subconsciously). Forget “crypto-communists”. Crypto-fascists were always the bigger threat.
The communists, if they ever actually existed, are long gone…but the apparatus designed to “keep us safe” from them continues to expand to cover “threats” that are truly laughable in comparison to the Soviets…who were never actually going to do anything to us (on purpose) anyway….besides sick the occasional Keri Russell on us, which is fine by me.
FEAR…the mind killer….propaganda of deed….is it terrorism if they wear a uniform?
The only things I care to take from history are:
What lessons did we learn?
And, what teachable moments are there?
At the end of the day, I find very little is ever learned or taught that makes the world better after any war.
Sad to say but that is how I truly feel.
That is what everyone should aspire to….but sadly they do not….instant gratification is what is most important…
Yes, I know this is downfall of mankind. Notice how I didn’t put humanity.
I am not a man hater but GEESH they really got to step it up a bit more.
We males are good at crap on civilization…
HILARIOUS!