Privacy in America Is Dead

JGary D. Barnett
Lew Rockwell.com
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

What in the hell is going on? Have most all in this country lost their minds and their spirit, or concerning freedom, is apathy all that remains? Oh to be a conspiracy theorist! Everything today in actuality is conspiratorial, and those who have been continuously demoralized for their constant suspicions of government are now the only sane ones left. This is evident because “1984″ is no longer fiction; it is reality!

The latest crime in a long line of usurpations of liberty by government evildoers has now effectively eliminated privacy as we know it. As reported on LRC and told by Glenn Beck, anyone accessing the “cash for clunkers” program literally gives up ownership of their computer to the federal government. Before you say or even think anything, please understand that I fully realize that no real libertarian would ever take government cash in the form of welfare. You might say that those taking taxpayer cash for a car deserve to be monitored for participating in this government redistribution scheme, but you may want to think before you speak. If government can get into their computers, it can just as easily get into yours. This invasion is only the tip of the iceberg. All should be alarmed and all should be wary of current events. The government has become so brazen that it fears not any citizen outrage or exposure over its stealing of rights. The actions of government are exposed and openly discussed, but few it seems take heed.

The text of the Privacy Act and Security Statement at cars.gov, reads as follows:

“This application provides access to the DOT CARS system. When logged into the CARS system, your computer is considered a Federal computer system, and is the property of the U.S. Government. Any or all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DOT and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign.” (Emphasis mine)
Yes, you read that right. The government now claims to own your computer, and every single file and every single piece of information on your computer. Not only does government now own it, but it can use that information to harm and arrest you, to share your private information with anyone or any entity it chooses, including the police state enforcers, and at any time. In addition, once the government is inside, it never leaves! This is done by the way, without any probable cause and no warrant is ever issued.

Many will say, as is always the case, “Well, this doesn’t apply to me, because I’m not getting any cash for clunkers.” “Ah contraire”! I am continually amazed at the gullibility of the masses, and this is why I think that “conspiracy nuts” and government watchdogs are the brightest among us and the ones always prepared for the inevitable fall. I wish there were many more people who were as skeptical of government.

Now let’s get to the meat of it! This tyrannical and fascist federal government can do virtually anything it wants to, and at any time, and will do so under the guise of “legality.” Yes, in today’s world, everything the government does to us and against us is claimed to be legal. That is because it is “the law.” Once law became positive instead of negative, freedom took a proverbial back seat. Oh, if only freedom today could still be in the back seat, instead of locked away in the trunk. As Frederic Bastiat said; “Law is force.” This has never been more evident than it is today. This is obviously not a force for good (actually no such force exists) but a force used to advance the immoral and evil police state. My God, what have we allowed to happen?
To examine just a handful of adverse consequences due to recent events should help us all to understand the implications of our complacency. If government can take over, monitor and consume everything on your computer if you access the CARS site, then it stands to reason that government probably is already or has the capability to get inside all private computer systems. What if you have a phone line linked through your computer such as Vonage, Skype, etc.? We all know that our phones have been tapped and monitored for some time. So doesn’t it stand to reason that if the government wants on your computer and only has to access a phone line to do so, it will? What if you have visited any government website? Doesn’t it also stand to reason that if the government can access any computer that logs on to the “cash for clunkers” site, it can do the same with any government site via tracking cookies, etc.? And how many sites are government-controlled? Every time I check river water levels for fishing conditions, I’m on a government site. Every time I check the weather on NOAA; every time I check government unemployment, spending, and deficit numbers; every time I check current legislation pending in congress, and on and on, I am linked to a government computer. Given what is going on with the CARS site, couldn’t my computer be compromised in any of these situations?

Add to this:

• Financial transaction monitoring and data-basing of private information that is taking place every day via financial institutions
• Intrusions concerning anti-money laundering legislation
• Unconstitutional wiretaps
• Unconstitutional searches
• TSA (enough said)
• Government and police-state camera monitoring
• Census invasions and data-basing of individual’s private information
• GPS monitoring by government of every home in America
• Medical record consolidation and capture by government
• Real ID or the now PASS ID systems

These are but a few of the invasions and monitoring techniques used by government. Many, many more examples exist and many more are unknown. In other words, everything we do is watched, monitored, and data-based; our privacy invaded and our natural rights trampled.

The military industrial complex is now also a domestic police force; ready, willing and able to do the bidding of Leviathan. It can and will be used to stop civil unrest, to force mandatory vaccinations, to imprison those willing to stand their ground, to disarm and evacuate by force citizens from their homes, and to uphold Martial Law if ordered to do so. In addition, most every domestic police force is now militarized.

The elite in our society, along with the powerbrokers in politics will be protected from this scourge, but the rest of us will suffer the consequences of our lost freedom. As is continually uttered by the “conservative” crowd, “Freedom is not free,” but no armed government agent in the military industrial complex has or ever will protect our freedom; quite the contrary. Only we as individuals can retain and save our liberty.

Many brutal political “leaders” of the past like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Mussolini attempted to monitor and control all citizens and their behavior. The end results were telling, and they were horrible. Mass murder at the hands of the state was the rule not the exception. Starvation was prevalent and sickness was constant. Wars consumed production and economies collapsed. Freedom was unheard of during the reign of these monsters. Can you imagine the political and monitoring capabilities of today being available to those brutal tyrants of the past? There is a reason that the U.S. federal government has taken over and co-opted all the means of society. This same government now controls and monitors all money, banking, transportation, health care, police, and communication, including the internet. Those dictators I mentioned above did not have this capability, and still mass oppression won the day. If this history is any guide, our future looks bleak.

All power and control lies in the hands of the few who claim to represent us. They are collectively the autocratic federal government. Life’s lessons tell us that those who have the power make the rules. Any who believe that these rules will benefit life, liberty and property are fools, and are doomed to the inevitable and disastrous repeat of history. The power possessed by these current tyrants will not be reined in by “change” as the political process is forever flawed. No, this power must be eliminated!