The War on You: How the Pentagon is Militarizing Social Control
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
by T.J. COLES
Neoliberalism benefits the few and makes life for the many increasingly impossible. Big data and blanket surveillance give state and corporate intelligence confidence that they can pre-empt and manage mass, social reactions to neoliberalism. This article is an excerpt from my new book, The War on You.
TARGET: EVERYONE
In 1997, the U.S. Space Command published its Vision for 2020. The Vision says that military force is necessary to protect U.S. trade and investment. Colonial forces repelled Native American attacks, Navies enforced sea-based commerce, the Air Force had the advantage of the high ground. In modern times, space is an additional domain of warfare. The technologies that we take for grantedcargo tankers, computers, e-commerce, drones, GPS, the internet, jet aircraft, touchscreens, and the satellites that make these things possiblewere developed in the military sector with public treasure before their transfer to private, for-profit corporations. This, says the Space Command, will lead to Full Spectrum Dominance.
A few years later, Dennis M. Bushnell, the chief scientist at NASAs Langley Research Center, gave a presentation based on the work of a host of powerful U.S. (and other) institutions, including: the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joint Forces Command, the National Research Council, and many others.
Entitled Future Strategic Issues/Future Warfare [Circa 2025], the PowerPoint presentation anticipates: a) scenarios created by U.S. forces and agencies and b) scenarios to which they might have to respond. The projection is contingent on the use of hi-technology. According to the report there are/will be six Technological Ages of Humankind: Hunter/killer groups (sic) [million BC-10K BC]; Agriculture [10K BC-1800 AD]; Industrial [1800-1950]; IT [1950-2020]; Bio/Nano [2020-?]; Virtual.
In the past, Hunter/gatherer groups fought over hunting grounds against other tribal bands and used handheld/thrown weapons. In the agricultural era, professional armies also used handheld/thrown weapons to fight over farm lands. In the industrial era, conscripted armies fought over natural resources, using mechanical and chemical weapons. In our time, IT/Bio/Bots (robots) are used to prevent societal disruption. The new enemy is everyone. Everyone.
More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/11/the-war-on-you-how-the-pentagon-is-militarizing-social-control/