The 9 11 attacks on the USA have exposed a previously hidden but dangerous crack running through the current nominal free world. On one side is freedom; the other, security.
On December 27 Judge Pauley (ACLU vs. Clapper) ruled in favour of the NSA security apparatus spying activities against the citizens of the United States. In his decision, he made the claim that the choice between liberty and security is a false dichotomy. Pauley makes this statement after his nation has fought wars for freedom, ostensibly, and against nations and notions of buttoned down security. Wars have been fought to defend the USA against ideologies that may compromise the free individual. It is certainly not a false dichotomy. While this question will always be on a spectrum, there is a clear divide between secure societies (especially where everybody is monitored) and a free society.
Earlier this month, Judge Richard Leon ruled in favour of freedom. And there it is; the crack that separates federal judges. It also shows up in broad ideological terms. It separates conservatives from libertarians, liberals from liberals, and socialists and anarchists from so called communists. It is a crack that runs through philosophy, religion, and history. It probably runs through most individuals.
Pauley argues that “National security investigations are fundamentally different from criminal investigations. They are prospective – focused on preventing attacks – as opposed to the retrospective investigation of crimes.” Pauley aims to take due process into a nebulous realm where slippery pro fascist arguments may hold sway with fascistic minded individuals. He moves the locus of interest offshore to foreigners that are not protected under the Constitution. Then he uses that to justify pre-emptive strategies to stop the crime before it happens. Not only is Judge Pauley being disingenuous with the law pertaining to the fourth amendment, he is also on the wrong side of the Magna Charta and the basic legal principles that have been underlying planks to freedom for centuries. Preventing crime before the crime happens sounds good, we can then lock up anybody that will probably commit a crime before he commits the crime. Unfortunately, there is no way to live in a free society with this kind of security. To live in a free society, we need to tolerate the pedophile down the street and, we need to live with the possibility of being killed by violent people whether they are deemed (however arbitrarily) by the state ‘terrorist’ or not.
This is not about terrorism. It is about you. The state is not spending the time and money on the security state as it is in order to keep Al Qaeda from killing citizens. If fear, death, or any other types of citizens suffering were important to policymakers, they would address the fear, death, and suffering they directly cause in decisions where big money win out over human health and well-being. It isn’t terrorism they are afraid of. They are afraid of you.
A society where the state places the individual in a high tech goldfish bowl is a society where the state lords itself over, above, and against the population. It is a state aiming for total knowledge and control over the individual. While NSA activities may not result in jackbooted fascists storming through your door in the middle of the night, the differences are really cosmetic. We are moving to a paradigm you may remain marginally free compared to Germans under Hitler, Russians under Stalin, or Saudis under their current monarchs but, it is important to recognize that American society has crossed the aforementioned crack. Once that line is crossed, it is much easier for future explicit fascists and tyrants to rule with arbitrary power.
Judge Pauley makes much of the possibility that another terrorist attack may occur against the USA. What is much more devastating to the USA and indirectly to many other nations is the sustained decade old attack on individual freedom, an attack where Pauley himself is a guilty party. Individual physical attacks are one thing, attacking the fundamental legal and political basis of the nation is far more serious.
We can easily imagine the divide where on one side stand Madison and the American revolutionaries that brought the USA and the free world to modernity. Behind them stand millions of dead soldiers and citizens that have died for freedom. With them are countless intellectuals, philosophers, and revolutionaries the world over and throughout history; on the other side – a totalitarian nightmare.
Historically, the political left and right have been comfortably at each other’s throats – and we like it that way. On this occasion however, the left may find allies on the libertarian right and vice versa. No matter what we think and believe on other issues, the issue of freedom is the battle du jour and we need to win it. Together we may rise up against the cowards on both our sides of this existential crack in time.
This blog is an archive of articles I've published in MWC News, Indymedia, and on Newsgroups.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
The War on Children
The impact of Western military attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya have been catastrophic. Aside from people directly killed in the attacks, the physical, economic and social infrastructure of these nations has been ruined. Aside from Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, Western meddling has killed, displaced, and ruined the lives of countless others in Syria and many other nations in the Middle East and Africa. Aside from the reprieve granted by Putin's intervention in Syria, there is nothing to suggest the Western war machine is anywhere close to slowing down.
This is a very serious situation and it is time that we, the supposed employers of Western politicians, do something about it.
The Impact of War on Children
Much has been said to address post trauma stress suffered by veterans of those wars. While that is a festering wound on its own, we will consider what it is like for the individuals that happen to live in a war zone. For them, the war only ends when the war ends and even then, it doesn't end. War karma will drag on and on well into the future. The society must live with the consequences that war has for young people that are in the midst of their mental and emotional development. The consequences have ramifications not only for the affected individual but for their society as a whole. For the domestic population, there is no going home from the war. When war ends, it really doesn't.
Western nations have child protection services to intervene where children are at risk of being harmed by caregivers. Agencies tend to address problems by providing services to a family where children are at risk of harm. Should those responsible for the children present significant harm to the children and they cannot or will not reduce the risk, parents are stripped of their default authority over the children and children may be removed from the home. Citizens generally become quite disturbed when a local child is being harmed. Yet, brown skinned children in foreign lands may suffer as a direct result of their elected leaders decisions but citizens tend to ignore that suffering. On the other hand, we are rarely exposed to information about this brutal reality.
It is imperative that we develop a means to strip authority away from politicians that kill and injure children.
Brain development process are sequential and build on previous development. A secure and predictable environment is crucial to healthy development. On the other hand, an environment where children are 'incubated in terror' will lead to a myriad of developmental problems that will require even more security, stability, and child skilled parents than can be provided in typical homes in a secure environment. Add in the conditions that war brings both in its duration and afterward, and the prognosis is poor. Children affected this way will be prone to suffer from PTSD, attachment disorders, and a wide range of neurotic disorders.
Some stages of development of the growing brain are more critical than others. Children are vulnerable and some stages of development are more crucial than others. Generally speaking, the younger the child the more vulnerable he or she is. "Disruptions of experience dependent neurochemical signals during these periods may lead to major abnormalities or deficits in neurodevelopment, some of which may not be reversible. "Disruptions of critical cues may result from "extremes of experience". Experiences that affect the development of the lower areas (brainstem and mid-brain) "...necessarily alter the development of limbic and cortical areas because critical signals these areas depend on for normal organization originate in these lower brain areas." - See more at: http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/5335-the-children-of-iraq.html#sthash.Rd8O0qgn.dpuf
Chances for these children, where their nation has been devastated, are slim. Not only are their own parents impoverished, affected by PTSD, and coping with problems safe citizens can't imagine, the whole neighbourhood has been and remain in crisis due to the exponential nature of problems created by problems that have been created by the terror of war.
Recent studies on the effects of the environment on brain development indicate that environmental influences can “determine how genes are turned on and off and even whether some are expressed at all.” While children inherit both the brain's hard wiring as well as the genetic software that goes with it, it is the epigenome (operating system/software) that determines “which functions the genetic “hardware” does and does not perform.”
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/wp10/
“Because early experiences can alter the
epigenome and influence developing brain architecture, policies affecting the life circumstances of pregnant women and young children
can have enormous implications for all of society. The varied effects of environments on the
epigenome are evident from the time of early
embryonic development and extend into the
early childhood years. Science tells us that children can be helped to reach their full potential
through both appropriate experiences in the
earliest years and the reduction of sources of
toxic stress that can alter the epigenome and increase the risk of long-term problems in physical and mental health. Thus, public policies that
harness the basic principles of neuroscience
and epigenetics to address the needs of young
children are likely to also generate long-term
benefits, such as healthier communities and a
more prosperous society.
” (Ibid)
The Damage Done
The damage that has occurred and continues to occur in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and all societies victimized by war may be difficult to assess considering this type of 'collateral damage' and its ripple effects that go on into the future. However, it is a task that must be carried out. It is information that is important for those affected but it is also crucial that an informed citizenry demand an end to the ongoing wars.
Recently, the American war machine was primed to enter Syria. Thankfully, that stage of 'Western intervention' has been averted. What we are left with however are policymakers silently breathing a sigh of relief having discovered Al Qaeda waging war against it's proposed proxies. The apparent whimsical and caprice nature of making decsions about going to war is disturbing on many levels, not least of which is the callous disregard for the impact that war has on those affected. Even short of an invasion in Syria, Western meddling has prolonged and bloodied a civil war that probably has reduced living conditions to that of Iraq, Afghanistan, or Libya. Currently, 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, two million have fled the country and another four million are displaced inside Syria. The real suffering that these numbers reflect is inconceivable.
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/syria-dashboard/
Although you wouldn't know it from Western media reports, or lack thereof, Iraq has been suffering through war since the Americans left. In their wake, the USA has left behind a civil war that rages on. In 2013, 8,000 to 9,000 people have been killed in the ongoing civil war.
http://data.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/a-wave-of-violence-sweeps-iraq
Western intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya has been catastrophic for these nations. The consequences will live on for decades and perhaps even longer. These massive crimes against humanity have occurred, are occurring, and will continue. This is an outrageous situation and what makes it much worse is that so called 'Western intervention' continues and will continue and will likely spread through Africa and possibly even Asia.
And we, the people, are apparently powerless to do anything about it.
That is what the war party wants you to believe.
This is a very serious situation and it is time that we, the supposed employers of Western politicians, do something about it.
The Impact of War on Children
Much has been said to address post trauma stress suffered by veterans of those wars. While that is a festering wound on its own, we will consider what it is like for the individuals that happen to live in a war zone. For them, the war only ends when the war ends and even then, it doesn't end. War karma will drag on and on well into the future. The society must live with the consequences that war has for young people that are in the midst of their mental and emotional development. The consequences have ramifications not only for the affected individual but for their society as a whole. For the domestic population, there is no going home from the war. When war ends, it really doesn't.
Western nations have child protection services to intervene where children are at risk of being harmed by caregivers. Agencies tend to address problems by providing services to a family where children are at risk of harm. Should those responsible for the children present significant harm to the children and they cannot or will not reduce the risk, parents are stripped of their default authority over the children and children may be removed from the home. Citizens generally become quite disturbed when a local child is being harmed. Yet, brown skinned children in foreign lands may suffer as a direct result of their elected leaders decisions but citizens tend to ignore that suffering. On the other hand, we are rarely exposed to information about this brutal reality.
It is imperative that we develop a means to strip authority away from politicians that kill and injure children.
Brain development process are sequential and build on previous development. A secure and predictable environment is crucial to healthy development. On the other hand, an environment where children are 'incubated in terror' will lead to a myriad of developmental problems that will require even more security, stability, and child skilled parents than can be provided in typical homes in a secure environment. Add in the conditions that war brings both in its duration and afterward, and the prognosis is poor. Children affected this way will be prone to suffer from PTSD, attachment disorders, and a wide range of neurotic disorders.
Some stages of development of the growing brain are more critical than others. Children are vulnerable and some stages of development are more crucial than others. Generally speaking, the younger the child the more vulnerable he or she is. "Disruptions of experience dependent neurochemical signals during these periods may lead to major abnormalities or deficits in neurodevelopment, some of which may not be reversible. "Disruptions of critical cues may result from "extremes of experience". Experiences that affect the development of the lower areas (brainstem and mid-brain) "...necessarily alter the development of limbic and cortical areas because critical signals these areas depend on for normal organization originate in these lower brain areas." - See more at: http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/5335-the-children-of-iraq.html#sthash.Rd8O0qgn.dpuf
Chances for these children, where their nation has been devastated, are slim. Not only are their own parents impoverished, affected by PTSD, and coping with problems safe citizens can't imagine, the whole neighbourhood has been and remain in crisis due to the exponential nature of problems created by problems that have been created by the terror of war.
Recent studies on the effects of the environment on brain development indicate that environmental influences can “determine how genes are turned on and off and even whether some are expressed at all.” While children inherit both the brain's hard wiring as well as the genetic software that goes with it, it is the epigenome (operating system/software) that determines “which functions the genetic “hardware” does and does not perform.”
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/wp10/
“Because early experiences can alter the
epigenome and influence developing brain architecture, policies affecting the life circumstances of pregnant women and young children
can have enormous implications for all of society. The varied effects of environments on the
epigenome are evident from the time of early
embryonic development and extend into the
early childhood years. Science tells us that children can be helped to reach their full potential
through both appropriate experiences in the
earliest years and the reduction of sources of
toxic stress that can alter the epigenome and increase the risk of long-term problems in physical and mental health. Thus, public policies that
harness the basic principles of neuroscience
and epigenetics to address the needs of young
children are likely to also generate long-term
benefits, such as healthier communities and a
more prosperous society.
” (Ibid)
The Damage Done
The damage that has occurred and continues to occur in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and all societies victimized by war may be difficult to assess considering this type of 'collateral damage' and its ripple effects that go on into the future. However, it is a task that must be carried out. It is information that is important for those affected but it is also crucial that an informed citizenry demand an end to the ongoing wars.
Recently, the American war machine was primed to enter Syria. Thankfully, that stage of 'Western intervention' has been averted. What we are left with however are policymakers silently breathing a sigh of relief having discovered Al Qaeda waging war against it's proposed proxies. The apparent whimsical and caprice nature of making decsions about going to war is disturbing on many levels, not least of which is the callous disregard for the impact that war has on those affected. Even short of an invasion in Syria, Western meddling has prolonged and bloodied a civil war that probably has reduced living conditions to that of Iraq, Afghanistan, or Libya. Currently, 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, two million have fled the country and another four million are displaced inside Syria. The real suffering that these numbers reflect is inconceivable.
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/syria-dashboard/
Although you wouldn't know it from Western media reports, or lack thereof, Iraq has been suffering through war since the Americans left. In their wake, the USA has left behind a civil war that rages on. In 2013, 8,000 to 9,000 people have been killed in the ongoing civil war.
http://data.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/a-wave-of-violence-sweeps-iraq
Western intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya has been catastrophic for these nations. The consequences will live on for decades and perhaps even longer. These massive crimes against humanity have occurred, are occurring, and will continue. This is an outrageous situation and what makes it much worse is that so called 'Western intervention' continues and will continue and will likely spread through Africa and possibly even Asia.
And we, the people, are apparently powerless to do anything about it.
That is what the war party wants you to believe.
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