Unmanned Drones

Dale Sinner, International Man

“We could be pets, we could be food, but all we really
are is livestock.” – bearded man in John Carpenter’s 1988 SF film“They Live”

There is an oddly prophetic little scene in the science fiction movie  They Live, filmed more than 20 years ago.  In it, an alien disguised as a businessman radios in the location of the  film’s main character to police. Within seconds a little camera-sporting flying saucer buzzes in overhead to start video surveillance. Aerial surveillance drones are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

In fact, in coming years they could be all over the US. That disturbs me. A huge US Navy reconnaissance drone, which cost $176 million in taxpayer’s  cash, recently crashed near Salisbury, Maryland. The thing was no radio-controlled toy. It was a scary piece of remote-controlled machinery, with a wingspan of 116 feet and a length of 44 feet. But really, naval surveillance doesn’t bother me. I want the navy to watch the coastline.

Unmanned Domestic Drones by the Thousands

But what about drones being used inside the USA? What really got me thinking about domestic drones is numbers. The government recently directed the FAA to plan for up to 30,000 drones in US airspace by 2020.

When I first heard that, I wondered why the government thinks it needs so many of those things?

It’s true that domestic drones won’t all be as big as the Navy one that crashed, but still, what does that mind blowing number even mean? Drones everywhere?

There are lots of uses for drones that make sense. They could be lifesavers in disaster relief, fighting fires, and search and rescue, for example.

Universities are using them for research – presumably for things like wildlife monitoring, mapping, agriculture and environmental studies. Border patrol also uses them. No problem.

Here’s the problem. What if they are used to harass citizens?

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) got caught using aerial drones to spy on Iowa and Nebraska cattle ranchers recently, and the ranchers don’t like it.

“Nebraskans are rightfully skeptical …,”
said Nebraska Rep. Adrian Smith (R-3rd District).

So am I.

People from both the left and the right find common ground in their skepticism over drones in US airspace. Few people trust that the government’s intent is benign.

Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, recently said that “Drones raise the prospect of much more pervasive surveillance.”

In a recent column, Fox News commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano wrote,  “When liberty and safety clash, do we really expect the government to balance those values? Of course not.”

Dangerous Machines

Besides serious privacy and Constitutional concerns, are we confident these pilotless jets and helicopters are even safe? Iraqi hackers downed a US drone using a $26 software app in 2009.

Last December Iran allegedly hacked communications on one of America’s most sophisticated drones and then safely landed it.

Wired magazine reported last year that America’s Predator and Reaper drone fleet has already been infected with a keylogger virus that military network specialists can’t get rid of.

Feeling safe now? Does anyone really think having 30,000 of these over our heads is a good idea?

 Scary Scenarios

The ACLU definitely doesn’t, not if their drone nightmare scenario is any indication. They imagine an escalating use of drones, along with loosening FAA restrictions, until the US becomes a police state where everyone is fearful of doing just about anything.

But, my nightmare scenario is much, much worse.  What if an ever-worsening economy pushes millions of Americans over the edge?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has shown that lots of Americans feel cheated. Not just college students and young people, but also older unemployed workers. They know the tanking economy is not their fault. Yet they are reaping the hardships, while the gamblers on Wall Street got bailed out with billions of tax dollars.

They also know – or think they know – who’s to blame for their lost opportunities. They know Main Street is nowhere near Wall Street. Neither is Washington, D.C.

Lots of people who lost homes to foreclosure when the shafty provisions of their subprime loans kicked in, or they missed or were late for one payment, comprise another huge group who feels cheated.

So far, these groups have mostly conducted themselves peacefully, lawfully.

So far, so good.

But, what if their grievances are never redressed?

What if millions more Americans lose jobs or homes, millions more leave school to find there are no jobs, and an entire generation of people used to living in an expanding economy – an economy of “rising expectations” – realize that economy is gone and might not return for decades?

What if the government already knows that that depression is coming?

What if the government expects what economist Steve Keen (among the few who predicted the economic crisis) asserts – that a 20-year Greater Depression is all but inevitable?

Does the government expect mass violence?  Are aerial drones one way of preparing for it?

If you were bent on population control (rather than telling people what was coming down the pike and helping them prepare for it), you might just want weaponized, high tech aerial drones to help you manage your muppets.

Gerald Celente once said, “When people lose everything and they have nothing left to lose, they ‘lose it’.”

How will the US government react if millions of Americans ‘lose it’?  Do you think it will get right to work on redressing their grievances?  Or will it treat the hapless millions like it treated Japanese-Americans during WWII – that is, herd them like livestock?

I can imagine that drones equipped with rubber bullets, tear-gas sprayers, shotguns, and worse would be a great help in circling up, corralling and perhaps even slaughtering unruly mobs, if need be.

That’s my nightmare scenario.

I don’t plan on sticking around to see if it comes true.