As we slowly make the march toward our next set of elections in the state of Florida, our nation continues to sink into a possible plutocracy. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is writing rules that will regulate how local police, fire departments, and corporations can use drones to track certain activities.
What is most stomach turning about this possible practice is that corporations may have access to the use of drones to survey American citizens.
As we’ve seen over the past few months, our democracy is in danger due to our own apathy toward the voting process and immoral behavior of those we’ve elected to lead. A new drones program leased from our government by plutocrats and pushed toward citizens as a new way of protection is shrouded in disrespect for our intelligence and our safety.
This new path of treachery that’s being carved out for America, including Florida, should scare any citizen into worrying about the future of this nation. Our leadership has failed us, which is why we are being sold a can of snake oil by some of those that reside in the dark halls of our government buildings.
Our democracy is a two-way street and only works if we are to involve ourselves in the process. If we fail to engage on issues that impact our own communities, such as this one, as well as voting, then we may as well wave the white flag.
Just as the motto goes for some of this nation’s largest corporations, we are too big to fail and too large to deny ourselves the access to a better future.
Jason Henry is a candidate for the Florida House, representing District 46.
Hello Jason Henry,
I agree with your interpretation of this particular drone situation. If the City of Orlando, or Orange County buy these drones, how would you, as an elected official dissuade their use on the local citizens?
With voter participation is so low in our community, how would you fight plutocratic issues in our neighborhoods?
Saying of our nation that it “continues to sink into a possible plutocracy” reminds me of the fellow in Melville’s _The Confidence-Man_ who finds a strange man bursting out of his wife’s bedroom and exclaims “By Gar! I begin to suspec.”
In the ’80s, Wall Street stole the political parties, behind Reagan for the GOP and the Democratic Leadership Council (the Clintons and Obamas and their ilk) for the Democrats.
In the ’90s, Wall Street stole the laws, anti-trust, post-Great-Depression protections of every kind, etc.
And in the last decade, Wall Street stole everything else, culminating in the Oil Bubble of 2006-8, which deliberately wrecked the world and US economies, leaving the wealthiest wealthier than ever before in the process, both absolutely and comparatively, in a Great Leap Forward for global and US plutocracy.
And now the 1% demand that the 99% pay back what the 1% stole, in what is called, in Plutespeak, “austerity”.
What do we need to convince people that plutocracy rules? the return of outright commercial slavery?
Hi Lawrence,
Thanks for commenting. Well, first I would attempt to stop the purchase of drones for such a program before we reached this point. This is where public engagement is important because as our democracy goes, so goes our freedom.
But, if the drones were already purchased and the program was set in place, I would want to release as much information to the public as possible pertaining to the possible surveillance of everyday citizens. I would then move to try change the program as much as possible because not only would local government play a role in this, corporations would as well.
As it pertains to this plutocracy, it is up to everyday people like you and I to stop the deterioration of our democracy. While I remain idealistic about the possibilities and opportunities that come with our government, I am also concerned with the influence that money and corporations have over our laws and rules.
So with that dissertation, I still don’t have all of the answers. I wish I did but I honestly believe it starts with engagement.
Thanks for commenting John. The voting numbers in Orlando should be enough for us to see that we need to make a few changes. While there were other factors that caused the numbers to dip, its still up to us to remain present as to what’s going on in our own backyards.
My optimism allows me to believe that we’ll have an all out revolt before we see extremes like the one you mentioned. We need better politicians, stronger community leaders and people to become red with anger.
But we have to continue to to scream, we have to continue to rally, we have to stay in the faces of our leaders and let them know that we aren’t going to take what’s being placed in front of us.