Although the Big Brother approach to U.S. Government has existed for decades - begun much earlier in the formative days of this nation, furthered years ago by the NSA and its many secret, spider-webbed affiliated security branches, fomented during the earlier CIA days, and made exponentially worse through the passing of the Patriot Act in 2001 when Americans willingly gave up too many of their rights permanently when the U.S. Government intentionally scared everyone into believing after 9/11 that an impending Middle Eastern terrorist/zombie horde would be knocking on our front doors at any minute and the loss of personal rights HAD to be implemented to make us all safe - thankfully the good folks running the country are still just as disorganized, dazed and confused as ever.
My personal view is when they DO get things right and actually follow through on their missions with any degree of success, that is the exception and not the rule.
I don't believe in "secret" Government conspiracies because I KNOW there are gray, unknown people performing grayer unknown acts in the name of national security everyday behind American's backs, so no "secret conspiracies" there. And that's because "absolute power corrupts absolutely," always and everytime humans are involved in a mutual endeavor and someone is accorded greater power over the others. That trend probably started when the first cave man happened to find a bigger club than most of his contemporaries had and wielded his advanced military might over them. Once he told his best cave man friend what he had in his arsenal, BAM! The first man-made "conspiracy" occurred.
Me, I am happily and pleasantly surprised when U.S. Government-based forces and agencies successfully accomplish any goals they set out to complete, and the very best at doing that come directly from the men and women fighting in the military trenches daily on our behalf - and NOT from their leadership making plans in the comfort and safety of their hidden facilities all across the globe, either. Those folks in the trenches NEVER disappoint, in my opinion, same with this nations' countless emergency personnel, from fireman to other folks who come in during a man-made or natural disaster risking their lives to save others. Another agency that impresses me is the NTSB. They, too, are the best of the best in my opinion and are an asset to this Great Nation of ours.
But most other branches of Government? Hah! Give me a break. They usually can't find their own butts with a map, GPS, and two free hands.
Leadership begins at the top and trickles down from there. So you have to ask yourself: just how competent, comprehensive, and full of decisive, leadership abilities have your U.S. leaders been in the past few few decades, from top to bottom? To me, it's been nothing too impressive or anything put well-enough together to be afraid of, so I just don't think they have exactly been poised to engage in a whole lot of extra-curricular activities such as grand secret conspiracies or pursuing the kind of intense daily scrutiny of the public as the OP's question implies.
Most things in America are in the process of breaking or are already broken. Our nationwide infrastructure (the electric grid, our highway and rail systems, and much, much more) is outdated and in jeopardy of failing on us in a big way at any given moment. Our Government agencies - from the local to the federal levels - have been proven to be filled with incompetency and an inability too often to be able to get the job done. Our military is STILL building and using the $125 hammer. Homeland Security is really considered to be a monumental joke except to the people working in it and employed by it.
It is estimated than more than 1 million new drones were sold in the U.S. during the recent holiday season. I sincerely doubt if the FAA or any other agency has been able to even wrap their collective heads around those stats, let alone have a plan in place to deal with it. They scramble very hard just to keep their established, ongoing routines going, like those entertainer guys years ago who used to spin pie plates on sticks as part of their act, rushing from pie plate to pie plate to stop them from falling.
In my opinion, the kind of nationwide, eyes-in-the-skies system the OP is dreading just does not exist and probably cannot exist (thankfully!) due to the mire our nation is wallowing in right now and has been for far too long, as well as our realistic technical abilities and limitations. I would worry more about crashing the drone through pilot error or having some redneck blasting it out of the sky during his unenlightened rants about invasion of privacy than I would be about Big Brother keeping track of your 1.6 lb. fold-up drone that can slip unnoticed in a small, innocent looking package. In short, they AIN'T all of that and a bag of chips, too.
My personal view is when they DO get things right and actually follow through on their missions with any degree of success, that is the exception and not the rule.
I don't believe in "secret" Government conspiracies because I KNOW there are gray, unknown people performing grayer unknown acts in the name of national security everyday behind American's backs, so no "secret conspiracies" there. And that's because "absolute power corrupts absolutely," always and everytime humans are involved in a mutual endeavor and someone is accorded greater power over the others. That trend probably started when the first cave man happened to find a bigger club than most of his contemporaries had and wielded his advanced military might over them. Once he told his best cave man friend what he had in his arsenal, BAM! The first man-made "conspiracy" occurred.
Me, I am happily and pleasantly surprised when U.S. Government-based forces and agencies successfully accomplish any goals they set out to complete, and the very best at doing that come directly from the men and women fighting in the military trenches daily on our behalf - and NOT from their leadership making plans in the comfort and safety of their hidden facilities all across the globe, either. Those folks in the trenches NEVER disappoint, in my opinion, same with this nations' countless emergency personnel, from fireman to other folks who come in during a man-made or natural disaster risking their lives to save others. Another agency that impresses me is the NTSB. They, too, are the best of the best in my opinion and are an asset to this Great Nation of ours.
But most other branches of Government? Hah! Give me a break. They usually can't find their own butts with a map, GPS, and two free hands.
Leadership begins at the top and trickles down from there. So you have to ask yourself: just how competent, comprehensive, and full of decisive, leadership abilities have your U.S. leaders been in the past few few decades, from top to bottom? To me, it's been nothing too impressive or anything put well-enough together to be afraid of, so I just don't think they have exactly been poised to engage in a whole lot of extra-curricular activities such as grand secret conspiracies or pursuing the kind of intense daily scrutiny of the public as the OP's question implies.
Most things in America are in the process of breaking or are already broken. Our nationwide infrastructure (the electric grid, our highway and rail systems, and much, much more) is outdated and in jeopardy of failing on us in a big way at any given moment. Our Government agencies - from the local to the federal levels - have been proven to be filled with incompetency and an inability too often to be able to get the job done. Our military is STILL building and using the $125 hammer. Homeland Security is really considered to be a monumental joke except to the people working in it and employed by it.
It is estimated than more than 1 million new drones were sold in the U.S. during the recent holiday season. I sincerely doubt if the FAA or any other agency has been able to even wrap their collective heads around those stats, let alone have a plan in place to deal with it. They scramble very hard just to keep their established, ongoing routines going, like those entertainer guys years ago who used to spin pie plates on sticks as part of their act, rushing from pie plate to pie plate to stop them from falling.
In my opinion, the kind of nationwide, eyes-in-the-skies system the OP is dreading just does not exist and probably cannot exist (thankfully!) due to the mire our nation is wallowing in right now and has been for far too long, as well as our realistic technical abilities and limitations. I would worry more about crashing the drone through pilot error or having some redneck blasting it out of the sky during his unenlightened rants about invasion of privacy than I would be about Big Brother keeping track of your 1.6 lb. fold-up drone that can slip unnoticed in a small, innocent looking package. In short, they AIN'T all of that and a bag of chips, too.
