I have long believed as Heinlein says above, through Lazarus Long. If I had managed to get my life together, I would currently be living off grid where no one could find me. I do not like a society that inspects me when it isn’t required.
And there’s the rub. Voting requires ID to ensure it’s the folks who should be voting who are doing so. And while I *personally* do not have an issue with people coming to the States for a better life, if they assimilate, there are issues with open borders admitting people who have no interest at all in assimilating. We’ve reached a point where the number of people coming in is going to overwhelm our systems, and that means we need to close the doors.
Me personally? I think we should just close the doors. Period. If you’re in, you’re in. If you’re a violent criminal, we’ll find you, prosecute you, and lock you up according to our laws (or give you the choice to self-deport, while informing authorities at the other end of your choice). If your only crime is being here, well, we’ll deal. If you’ve stayed under the radar because you’re living AS an American, I honestly, truly don’t care. You’re not the problem.
America is currently experiencing a downtrend in birth rates. We are losing more people to death than we are replacing them with. There are a number of folks who are upset about that, but I am not one of them. While I’ve no interest in depopulating the country entirely, having a few less million would mean we could feed, house, clothe, and educate the ones who ARE here.
Are there issues with that? Yep. Lots of them, especially with the government in the state it currently is.
This is elder abuse. I called the misuse of Biden as elder abuse. How in the world am I supposed to not say that about Mitch? He’s a frickin’ zombie, guys. And he isn’t the only one.
We have Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): 92, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): 84, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): 82, Jim Risch (R-Idaho): 81, Angus King (I-Maine): 82 in Congress. We have (R-Ky.): 88 (also the dean of the House), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.): 86, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.): 85, James Clyburn (D-S.C.): 84, and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): 84 in the House. And those are just “the oldest.” There are dozens more who are almost as old.
Why are we pushing the nanny state with all the flock cameras and other devices for watching the citizenry? We’re saying it’s because of illegal aliens, but that’s not what’s being used to catch them. Instead, we’re getting the majority of our illegal aliens out via local law enforcement (fingerprinting at jails goes back to AFIS and other systems, which in turn feed to the Feds, who come pick them up safely at lockup), traffic stops, and other passive means. It’s not through mass surveillance. That’s for you and me, guys.
As people get older, they become aware of their mortality. The more fragile they feel, the more they want to be protected. Hence the cameras. Just in case ol’ Mitch wanders off. Or Maxine takes a cab somewhere and forgets her phone number.
We need to scale back and/or get rid of surveillance, because it affects lawful citizens as much OR MORE than criminals, and lawful citizens don’t need watching, thank you very much. That whole 4th amendment thing. We need to enact term limits and let some younger people in our government. Right now, the Boomers and older are in control and frankly they aren’t functional enough to do the job well. Gen X might be the right age, but we’re just fucking done with everyone’s shit and want you off our lawn. So fine, stick some younger ones in. While not impossible, I doubt they’d cock it up any worse than it currently is.
Hanlon’s razor says to not assume conspiracy when stupidity suffices. (paraphrased)
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So, things like Flock cameras and other “surveillance” items are not widespread because of malice, but because they are cheap and easy to manufacture and install. Technology improvements are the real root cause. It used to be a camera system required a large camera unit, some kind of line level power, and a method of monitoring or recording. Now, your iPhone has more then enough tech to be a surveillance device, camera, storage, and potentially days worth of power built in.
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A company like Flock was inevitable. Not because they set out to monitor the movement of every person in the country. But because they had a business model to install a system that could be accessed to help solve crimes. (It is a BIG assumption on my part that they did not intend for their system to be used as a way to monitor the movement of innocent people.) I look at the warrantless wiretap capabilities of the Patriot Act as an example. Under one admin, it was used as a crime solving tool (or so we are told). Law enforcement would see something suspicious, and look into it without a warrant. Under the next administration, they monitored all calls and texts and looked for crimes. One use assumes criminal action for a small number of people after suspicious activity is identified, the other assumes everyone is a criminal.
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Now… having said that, I agree with you. We do need to scale widespread, unjustified surveillance. Justified surveillance might be a retail store putting cameras in the aisles with the products most likely to be shoplifted. Cameras in a bank, or jewelry store are justified. Cameras on every street corner are not.
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It is not the cameras themselves that are the problem, it is the inevitable misuse of the images captured that is the problem. And, that misuse will happen. Humans are like that. So… do we change human nature? Good luck. The next best solution? Get rid of the tools that can be abused.
Just saw this:
https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2026/10/03/flocks-massive-license-plate-database-just-hit-a-fourth-amendment-wall-n4957924
While I am happy they got meth off the streets, it is an obvious mis… no abuse of the system. The police had no real, justifiable (per the article) to dig into her movements. But, they did… And, the big problem is a decent defense lawyer will get the charges dropped, letting a drug dealer right back onto the streets. Added bonus, they will have the knowledge they can be tracked.
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