General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Authoritarian State Yet? [View all]Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)I would have voted no because we certainly are not an authoritarian state the way real authoritarian state really are. In a real authoritarian states I would be in jail and so would most of the posters on this forum. As to whether or not we are still a functioning representative democracy observing the rule of law - Well, not exactly but we still manage to have many basic democratic forms and a fair degree of rule of law however corrupted the representative democracy may be and however corrupted the rule of law actually cashes out in the real world. Visit a real authoritarian state where the police and the intelligence networks really do act with impunity all the time and the courts really are a joke and you will see what I mean.
My concern and condemnation of the ever increasing surveillance industrial complex is not so much a concern that some agent X is observing my funny little ways so they can blackmail me into only nice things about the power structure - I am really not losing a whole lot of sleep about that. My concerns is the realization that this amount of total full spectrum information gathering combined with almost limitless possibilities of technological enhancements operating in secrecy with very little accountability is creating a very centralized institution that will inevitably became a dangerous power in its own right. Although we are still a long way from life in a real authoritarian state - I cannot imagine any scenario in which we can continue down this road of ever expanding surveillance capabilities operating with the most advanced technology the world has ever known in an atmosphere of unaccountable secrecy and not create an institution that is a dangerous power in its own right - perhaps separate from the official state and most likely operating outside of the control of the official state. This is what will happen if the situation is not brought under control soon.