it's time to stop pretending that evil keeps us safe
apparently the most pernicious pervasive myth propagated by action movies and tv is not that cars explode when they crash or that shootouts are glamorous and bloodless; it's the myth that torture works to extract information.
this shows up all over the place. it's taken for granted; it's always assumed that the debate around torture is about whether to do it despite moral qualms, with the absolutely unquestioned assumption that if you were to do it, it would get you what you want. in the movies, it's always the grim grizzled veteran of the world's struggles who assures us that our delicate sensibilities are only liabilities in the "real world" where someone has to be willing to torture people, spy on all electronic communications, send drones to bomb weddings and funerals, in order to protect society, and if you disagree, it's just because "you can't handle the truth." but these brave martyrs sacrifice their own morality and your regard in order to keep you safe.
bullshit.
our government's torture program following the 9/11 terrorist attacks has made us less safe in every possible way. it didn't tell us anything useful that we couldn't have found out other ways, but it did cause us problems negotiating with other nations, and give a lot of people excellent reasons to take up arms against us. it gave terrorists opposing the u.s. a great recruiting tool; it gave terrorists who didn't especially oppose the u.s. a reason to start to. it literally gave aid and comfort to our enemies.
from the snowden documents it seems as if a lot of the dragnet nsa spying has done the same thing: made us new enemies, and eroded our regard in the world's eyes, our "soft power," without getting us anything in return.
it's hard to say much about the drone program, except that the fact that it's a big recruiting tool for al qaeda and has caused us a lot of foreign policy hassles is public knowledge; and if it had made any great successes, the government would certainly have publicized them by now (unlike the spy programs, there would be no reason to keep them secret).
the shittiest feeling in the world, of course, is compromising your morals and then discovering you got nothing at all in return for it.
but that's where we, as a nation, are.
this shows up all over the place. it's taken for granted; it's always assumed that the debate around torture is about whether to do it despite moral qualms, with the absolutely unquestioned assumption that if you were to do it, it would get you what you want. in the movies, it's always the grim grizzled veteran of the world's struggles who assures us that our delicate sensibilities are only liabilities in the "real world" where someone has to be willing to torture people, spy on all electronic communications, send drones to bomb weddings and funerals, in order to protect society, and if you disagree, it's just because "you can't handle the truth." but these brave martyrs sacrifice their own morality and your regard in order to keep you safe.
bullshit.
our government's torture program following the 9/11 terrorist attacks has made us less safe in every possible way. it didn't tell us anything useful that we couldn't have found out other ways, but it did cause us problems negotiating with other nations, and give a lot of people excellent reasons to take up arms against us. it gave terrorists opposing the u.s. a great recruiting tool; it gave terrorists who didn't especially oppose the u.s. a reason to start to. it literally gave aid and comfort to our enemies.
from the snowden documents it seems as if a lot of the dragnet nsa spying has done the same thing: made us new enemies, and eroded our regard in the world's eyes, our "soft power," without getting us anything in return.
it's hard to say much about the drone program, except that the fact that it's a big recruiting tool for al qaeda and has caused us a lot of foreign policy hassles is public knowledge; and if it had made any great successes, the government would certainly have publicized them by now (unlike the spy programs, there would be no reason to keep them secret).
the shittiest feeling in the world, of course, is compromising your morals and then discovering you got nothing at all in return for it.
but that's where we, as a nation, are.