Technocratic ideologies threaten to quickly overpower Democracies at the first opportunity worldwide

 

Much was made about the rise of Big Tech over the last 30 years. Even more is rightfully being made about the effects Social Media is having on modern society all over the world. It can no longer be denied the internet and the more recent rise of social media have changed things.

In recent years we’ve seen Facebook become a haven for hate speech in secret Facebook groups. This is to say nothing of Facebook Marketplace becoming a popular place for stolen merchandise to be sold. Don’t even get me started on Elon Musk silencing voices he doesn’t like or agree with–even those who are paid subscribers–on Xitter.

The rise of Autocratic ideologues like Trump and DeSantis are bad enough but now we also have to deal with the reemergence of a long forgotten threat to Democracy from the 1930s: Technocracy. About 100 years ago, there was a great effort by some of America’s best educated to replace Democracy with a new type of government led by the country’s greatest minds. They basically used The Great Depression as reason enough to basically say “Democracy has run its course. In order to save this country, some drastic changes need to be made.”

Their efforts ultimately failed and stalled when people realized the short-term benefits were not worth the longterm drawbacks. This is to say nothing of the fact there was a massive education and economic disparity in America which meant mostly the elite would reap the benefits. Everyone else would be at the mercy of the Technocrats.

…Doesn’t this sound familiar to you? Yes, history is repeating itself.

Is there a cabal of tech leaders and/or tech engineers plotting to use A.I., Augmented Reality and/or Virtual Reality to control the world? No. The more likely scenario is someone develops tech they can’t control that becomes an existential threat to mankind and THAT would be a serious problem. This is why there needs to be guard rails in the form of government oversight at the very least.

I’ve mentioned this before but at the beginning of the year, many tech experts worldwide estimated A.I. at its current level has a 10% chance of leading the end of mankind. This past summer, that estimate rose to 18%. As of this month it’s around 24%. What caused the increase? The proliforation of A.I. software that can mimic a person’s voice with 99% accuracy readily available in the public domain.

Already there have been hundreds of reported attempted phone scams using this tech in just the U.S. What the scammers do is take a sample of a subject’s voice from social media and use A.I. software to copy and mimic it. They then call one of the subject’s family members–spoofing phone numbers is incredibly easy if you know what you’re doing on that note–saying they’re in trouble and need money now. This is where the scammer gives themselves away: They explicitly say “Don’t contact the authorities. Wire money or buy Gift Cards to be sent to this specified account”. Hang up and immediately contact your loved one to confirm they’re ok. ALWAYS do that first.

That aside. This is to say nothing of people with malicious intent making Deepfake videos involving politicians. It’s easy to laugh about a popular Deepfake in which Biden asks Kevin McCarthy for an order of chicken nuggets during the State of the Union Address. What’s no laughing matter is a string of Deepfake videos being shared in Far Right Telegram chatrooms with the express intent of deceiving unsuspecting audiences. This is also why some non-profit Think Tanks are pushing for anything A.I.-generated put in the public domain be required to have some kind of digital watermark so that people know it’s not real.

Believe it or not someone using new technology for nefarious purposes is actually the second-biggest threat. The biggest threat is and always will be someone developing technology that either can’t be controlled or gets out of control. THAT is the clear and present threat A.I. poses to mankind. At the same time, A.I. itself is not the problem. It’s a tool. Like any other tool, it can be used for good as well as evil. There needs to be safeguards in the form of regulations in place to minimize the risks of the latter.

That brings me to these three charts. While World War I ushered in the age of 2GW, the American Civil War (1861-1865) was the first to utilize it. 20 years after the end of World War I, Nazi Germany introduced the world to 3GW with the Blitzkrieg (Lightning War).

We entered 4GW–Guerilla Warfare–during the Cold War and for most of that period, it was how countries like Vietnam and Afghanistan were able to beat the United States and Russia despite being the huge military disadvantage. The U.S. and Russia insisted on using a combination of 2GW and 3GW tactics against Vietnam and Afghanistan. Vietnam was able to keep the U.S. bogged down for almost 20 years and the Taliban prettymuch did the same thing against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s. The Afghan-Soviet conflict is referred to as Russia’s Vietnam with good reason.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, the world basically entered 5GW with advent of the internet in the mid-1990s. It was being used nationally but on smaller scales in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea in particular. All four countries control the media.

In the case of China, the government controls and heavily monitors the internet. In fact China not only banned Twitter but have their own version called Weibo. Foreigners in China can apply to get a VPN to use the internet like the rest of the world but Chinese citizens are not allowed to the same privilages.

The world has gotten to know Russia’s Propaganda machine quite well since the conflict in Ukraine began to say the least. It’s pretty obvious by now that Russia is going to descend into anarchy sooner than later largely for that reason. Unlike China, Russia does not heavily monitor the internet for the Russian population. Most young people in Russia oppose the conflict in Ukraine and rightfully believer they are on the wrong side of history.

I know I’ve talked quite a bit about 5GW in recent years but one thing both China and Russia have that the United States doesn’t are digital fronts in foreign populations. Both countries as well as North Korea have invested HEAVILY into the development of digital armies for almost 20 years.

I’ve mentioned this before on this blog but it is a fact that Russia prettymuch endorses international fraud. They don’t care if hackers in their boarders target foreign governments directly as long as they don’t get caught and more obviously they don’t draw unwanted attention.

The Biden Administration sent a memo to Microsoft, Google, Apple and other U.S.-based tech companies earlier this year urging them to harden their defenses against cyber attacks and corporate theft from Chinese hacking rings backed by the Chinese government. This isn’t getting anywhere near as much attention in the media as it should be but it is a fact that the Chinese government endorses copyright theft of foreign companies–especially companies based in the U.S. On the other hand, Chinese companies operating overseas–including TikTok–are largely considered the eyes and ears of the Chinese government.

That brings me to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality which I’ll end things with. Anyone familiar with the 2018 Sci-Fi movie Ready, Player One, any of The Matrix movies or the anime Sword Art Online (SAO) is very familiar with the VR technology utilized, allowing players to upload their consciousness into the virtual world. It is largely revered by many sci fi fans as the ultimate escape or a possible way to live forever once the technology is fully developed.

I’ll use Amazon Prime Video’s sci-fi show Upload as another example. In that show, humans have achieved a measure of immortality by uploading their consciousness and memories to a digital world. It’s a one-way trip to the digital afterlife but once you cross over, you’re prettymuch immortal. One of the biggest fantasies of many Technocrats is achieving a measure of immortality via technological advancements even if it means sacrificing your humanity in the process. THAT’S exactly why Technocracy as a concept is so dangerous. Even more so now.

People need to understand something about Technocracy as a government construct. Although it elements of Democracy on the surface, at the end of the day a chosen handful are the decision-makers for the country. They are not elected but are selected based on their expertise in certain fields. If you want to see what that looks like in a modernized country, look at China. For those who don’t know, yes it is a police state but not on the same scale as what goes on in North Korea. On the surface China is a Communist country but make no mistake many of the country’s brightest minds, businessmen and experts have some political power as well. More so when you consider companies based in China that operate in other countries are basically required by law to spy on foreign nationals for the Chinese government.

All that said and in closing. There are a lot of powerful people in the tech world who need to be kept as far away from having any political power as possible. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are just two of many such people.

 

 

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The media is rightfully starting to sound the alarm on new House Speaker Mike Johnson’s connections to the New Apostalic Reformation

I talked a lot about the New Apostalic Reformation (NAR) on this blog in recent years with good reason. Christian Nationalism is the biggest domestic threat to America and almost no one is publicly talking about it, let alone acknowledging it is a threat to Democracy.

Christian Fundamantalist movements have positioned people in key places at the Federal level to ensure regardless of who actually wins the 2024 :residental Election, a Democrat can’t be certified as the winner. The media isn’t talking about this–yet–and likely won’t until after the election.

 

I want to draw your attention to the flag largely out of frame outside of Speaker Johnson’s office in the first picture. You can see a clearer version of it in the second picture. The simple white flag with a single pine tree and the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven” or “Appeal to Heaven” actually dates back to the Revolutionary War. It was adopted by The First Continental Army led by General George Washington–later the first president of the U.S.–as a visual battlefield protest of the Church of England and by extension Theocracy as well as the idea of Divine Rule.

One of the oldest and most enduring myths championed by Evangelicals overall is America was founded as a Christian nation. That’s not true and this is made clear by 1/5th of the First Amendment which stresses the following:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s worth noting The First Amendment starts that way and more is said about this than the other four things (Free Speech, Free Press, Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Petition). That’s because the founders wanted the strike a VERY hard balance. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamlton both pushed for the wording being like this specifically to protect people on both sides from having the levers of government weaponized against them. They would not have done this unless they sincerely believed someone would at least try otherwise.

When you take that into consideration, this leaves Christian Nationalist movements with no option other than to outright destroy the government and remake it to their liking. That’s exactly what’s going on as we speak with the current Republican Party.

By the way the Appeal to Heaven phrase is itself from a quote by the American philosopher John Locke. The quote is to the effect “When appealing to earthly power is not possible, all you can do is appeal to heaven.” I put the full text above but basically, the GOP has co-opted this idea cooked up by Christian National movements and the Sovereign Citizens movement to not recognize any government they don’t like or agree with.

…In other words they’re about anarchy, lawlessness and disorder.

The irony is the Bible actually does speak of a time to come in which some would seek to merge Church and State for the puroses of persecution. Such people would believe they’re doing what’s right or what’s best when they only want to weaponize the levers of government against others in the name of Christianity.

As I was writing this article, I caught wind of a grassroots organization called Christians Against Christian Nationalism. It wasd created in 2019–two years before the events of 1/6/2021–by a woman named Amanda Tyler. She was inspired by certain events during Trump’s time in office–most notably the incidents in Charlottesville, VA–to take a stand against these various Christian Nationalist movements working to take over the government at the local, state and federal levels.

I do think we are going to start to hear CACN in the media VERY soon. In an interview with TIME last December, correctly pointed out the roots these Christian Nationalist movements have with White Supremacy. Dominionsts like Mike Johnson are openly telling America and the world they are working to enact Minority Rule–Yes, they’re literally saying it THAT WAY–so that only “the chosen few” have all the power, rights and privilages.

This is also why Dominionists and their allies in the GOP have been working so hard to convince Christians in particular government assistance programs such as social security, SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicare/Medicaid, Universal Healthcare and Universal Basic Income are bad as well. Most evangelicals like to use 2 Thesselonians 3:10 to justify being opposed to not just these things but outright helping people in need unconditionally.

We’ve all heard this before or more often were told this by a preacher or some other faith leader at some point: “The Church is who people should be turning to for help people with these needs, not the government!” That’s true but the problem is it’s a fact Mega Churches are a uniquely American thing. We also know for a fact some pastors live in luxury at the expense of their congregations. This is of course to say nothing of hypocrites who demonize the LGBTQ+ Community or accuse Liberals of being Pedophiles who are then revealed to themselves have a digital stash of child porn or like to dress drag.

We also know many Christian Nationalist movements are working with White Nationalist movements and their mutual allies in the government to convince people in order for them to thrive, their neighbors must be in decline. When they say “Only lazy people who don’t want to work are on government assistance” they are WELL aware that there are many people who legit can’t work through no fault of their own either permanently or more commonly temporarily. Of course, they don’t dare say this to their audience because they need their audience to believe certain narratives about not government assistance but the people who receive those services.

History has already proven “Survival of the Fittest” is a bad ideology and even more so when religious ideologies are utilized to justify it as we are seeing in the U.S. right now. That brings me to Amanda Tyler’s final quote in her TIME interview: “To dismantle an ideology that’s so deeply seated will be a generational project but it’s one that’s urgent for our democracy and for the safety of the country.”

Like I noted earlier, the Bible does warn that there will come a time when some will seek to merge Church and State primarily for the purposes of pesecuting people. We are seeing the early stages of those efforts in plain sight which I have talked about quite a bit since at least 2019. The various Christian Nationalist Movements want to turn America into a Theocracy and they will likely succeed if nothing continues to be done.

The eyes of the world will be on the 2024 Presidental election. These could be the final 12 months of The American Experiment. That’s how serious things are at this point.

Mike Johnson being Speaker of the House ensures even if Biden wins the election, he will not be certified as the winner. Johnson recently made some comments to reinforce that: He affirmed during a press conference he puts his religious convictions before his duties as a an elected official and now Speaker of the House. That thinly veiled statement was meant for his fellow Dominionists to know “WE now control the House of Representatives”. I know I was talking about the 2024 presidental election but another government shutdown is also looming. We all saw how long it took for Johnson to become the new Speaker of the House so…yeah.

Now is the time for people to start preparing for harder times that will be coming for everyone in America who isn’t rich or living a privilaged life right now. A lot of the personal freedoms most Americans have  long taken for granted will continue to be stripped away not by laws, proclaimation or ordinances but by how we’ve chosen to treat each other. In fact it’s already started for some in this country. I would urge folks to start stocking up on supplies weather you live in a rural, suburban or urban area.

All that said. There is yet another faction that has identified itself as yet another threat to the American Democracy but I’ll save that for a separate post. You probably won’t be surprised by it though.

 

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