"..all the technology of political control has three components, hardware, software and liveware* (the human elements), which are all woven together to form manipulative programmes of socio-political control." - STOA, European Parliament - 1997 http://www.iwar.org.uk/sigint/resources/stoa/stoa-atpc-so.htm.
Rousseau observed that people are basically good but INSTITUTIONS and society corrupt them. Perhaps he was right. Today, unlike in Rousseau's time, the institutions are no longer just low-tech nation-states but big and increasingly interlinked institutions. They extend their reach into every area of life via increasingly sophisticated methods (marketing etc). The "mass-man", previously the property of the state, the party or perhaps of blind mob-rule, is now the property of the market and of every institution connected with it (including the state).
Political parties, military, prisons, police, banks, insurance, agriculture, pharmaceticals, media, advertising, churches, sport, legal, NGOs, communications & etc. Many of these institutions are either in alliance with, or funded/semi-funded by the state itself. i.e. either the state is their agent (as far as regulator, legal etc) or they are "agents" of the state. (e.g. certain NGOs, private militaries rtc) This is a very dangerous concentration of power which liberalism & 'civil society' is unable to deal with due to their complicity. While many 'liberals' may percieve John Howard or other CORRUPT individuals to be the "problem", this is if not outright dishonest, a simplistic analysis. We should realise that Howard himself is a high-level unit of 'liveware'. None of the 'agendas' that Howard is carrying out can be seperated from the issue of globalisation, the "marketization" of society, the addiction to the "growth economy" (i.e. a systemic problem). The technologies of socio-political control serve not only as 'stabilizers' but as tools (weapons) for further mass-integration* into the 'model'.
* "The mass-man does in fact believe that he is the State/Corporation and he will tend more and more to set its machinery working, on whatsoever pretext, to crush beneath it any creative minority which disturbs it - disturbs it in any order of things; in politics, in ideas, in industry." [Ortega y Gasset - 2005 updated edition]
* "A country or region is functioning if it can handle the content flows (ideas, services, money, and media) that come with integrating the national with the global economy. A country or region is functioning when it seeks to harmonize its �internal rule sets� with the emerging global rule of democracy, rule of law, and free markets-for example, by gaining admittance to the WTO. A country is �disconnected� when it fails to gain the confidence of multinational corporations, which limits foreign investment." [Thomas Barnett -senior strategic researcher at the U.S. Naval War College]
The Model
new technologies and 'second generation' weapons sytems
LINKAGES BETWEEN ECONOMIC, TECHNOLOGICAL, & SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTROL.
just as in economics the lines are blurred between MACRO and MICRO, so also it is in 'socio-political control'. Ultimately though it must protect The Market and control the individual (micro-management).
Concentrations of power: (partial list)
MACRO-economic (national/global/space)>>
MACRO-sociopolitical control (national/global/space)
- global military systems (Starwars etc.)
- large-scale military systems
- global systems (ECHELON etc)
- legal systems (enforces taxation, patents etc)
- capital control/finance (WORLD BANK, IMF, capital flight etc)
- informational/entertainment/marketing (propaganda)
- pharmaceutical/agricultural/biotech (lifelord)
- tracking systems
MICRO-economic (local/individual)>>
MICRO-sociopolitical control (local/individual)
- legal (enforces taxation, patents etc)
- light military intervention (force)
- general crowd control and policing systems
- entertainment/drugs (coercion)
- marketing/advertising
- psy-ops/terror (secret state)
- educational/religious (propaganda)
- workplace management (coercion)
- surveillance/robotics
- prison systems
- tracking systems
NETWORKS OF INTERCONNECTEDNESS (institutions of domination)
1. State.
-- military Industrial Complex (I C)
-- police I C
-- prison I C
-- 'security' I C
-- legal
2. Corporate
-- pharmaceutical/agricultural/biotech I C
-- media/information I C *
-- banking/finance
-- legal
3. State/Corporate alliances (public/private 'partnership')
Level 1. the military, police, prison and security I C
Level 2. almost all sectors including agricultural, biomedical, pharmaceutical etc.**
* In 1985, there were 50 substantial media conglomerates in the U.S. By Year 2000 there were six: AOL Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company, Bertelsmann A. G, Viacom, Newscorporation, and Vivendi Universal. [globalelite.org]
** vertical/horizontal integration, monopolisation by a few big multinationals in close co-operation with the State is now extending to new areas through MULTIPLE CHANNELS (economic/technical/military/biological/legal) The 'legal' system is the main conduit for new forms of theft (e.g. 'patents' on seeds, privatisation of water etc).
According to a new report by ActionAid... "A boom in mergers, acquisitions and business alliances in the agrifood industry has helped create this set of powerful corporations. Agrifood TNCs have also formed new global networks through joint ventures and informal alliances with other companies in the chain - from gene and seed, through production, trade and processing, to supermarket shelf - increasing their market power, and their control over the way food is produced and distributed in developing countries... Thirty companies now account for a third of the world's processed food; five companies control 75% of the international grain trade; and six companies manage 75% of the global pesticide market. Two companies dominate sales of half the world's bananas, three trade 85% of the world's tea, and one, Wal-mart, now controls 40% of Mexico's retail food sector. Monsanto controls 91% of the global GM seed market."