Slog Comments
Drones and the Logic of Post-Neoliberalism
1
Never forget that neo-conservatives were originally liberals who fell into the Dark Side.
Drones on the other hand, are just tools.
Pervy spying tools where the remote operators can abandon any sense of responsibility ("It's On TV! It must not be real!")
Most of the news coverage in the US is about US-made drones, but Canada buys Canadian-made drones that are cheaper, faster, and just as pervy.
Drones on the other hand, are just tools.
Pervy spying tools where the remote operators can abandon any sense of responsibility ("It's On TV! It must not be real!")
Most of the news coverage in the US is about US-made drones, but Canada buys Canadian-made drones that are cheaper, faster, and just as pervy.
2
All of this reminds me of a Philip K. Dick novel, where the rulers of the earth just kept fighting these endless robot wars, while they themselves lived in luxurious estates ("demense"). The robot wars just changed the edges of their demenses slightly.
It blows me away too, where is all this money coming from to build enormous robot armies? And fund trillion dollar wars in the sand? Surely not our meagre tax receipts. Will capitalism eventually over-extend itself in paying for all the infrastructure to keep the majority of the populations from revolting? Surely it cuts into "their" profitability.
It blows me away too, where is all this money coming from to build enormous robot armies? And fund trillion dollar wars in the sand? Surely not our meagre tax receipts. Will capitalism eventually over-extend itself in paying for all the infrastructure to keep the majority of the populations from revolting? Surely it cuts into "their" profitability.
3
Drones are just cheaper, highly efficient and more effective and evasive than manned helicopters and jets. Technology wins again. End of story.
4
@3 plus they don't use tons of jet fuel that we have to invade countries on the other side of the world for.
You can literally (or at least the military and spy agencies can) have a solar-powered drone that lands on rooftops to recharge, or some other easy hiding place.
A little piezoelectric circuit for the self-destruct and you're good.
You can literally (or at least the military and spy agencies can) have a solar-powered drone that lands on rooftops to recharge, or some other easy hiding place.
A little piezoelectric circuit for the self-destruct and you're good.
6
If police can use drones to spy on activists, them activists should be able to use drones to spy on police.
7
...Drones were initially dismissed by many pilots as nothing more than video games, and it took prodding from the Pentagon before the Air Force embraced the aircraft. Today, the Air Force pins more wings on new drone pilots than fighter and bomber pilots..."Drones change 'Top Gun' culture of Air Force"—USA Today, Dec. 1, 2012
...The Air Force has embraced drone pilots without reservations. The drone pilots get nicknames, or call signs, and stride the halls of the Air Force Weapons School in flight suits like any other pilots.
It's important symbolism, officers say.
8
Interesting observations buried in sub-Jamesonion, and worse, sub-Zizekian nonsense language. Clean up your text a bit and you might be onto something.
9
Remember how crazy it was to hold your first cell phone conversation? When technology shrunk the world just a bit? Children today are being born into a world where what we call a drone will be ubiquitous telepresence devices. They will deliver our food and our overnight express packages. In the not too distant future, a tiny one could pop off your belt, providing real-time overhead views to an augmented headset like google glass. Like all technology, they can and probably will be used maliciously. Regulations are needed, but 3d-printers and open source projects like this show that implementing such regulations could prove difficult.
10
Please stop saying ridiculous things like "the end of history--1989" it messes up an otherwise interesting idea you've got going there.
Drones make sense for fighting a stateless insurgency. The alternative is what every other empire, From the Mongols to Victorian England, has done: kill every man, woman, and child (and sometimes even the dogs and cats) at the slightest sign of resistance. It's an improvement that this is no longer considered standard operating procedure.
The interesting thing will be what happens when the day comes (soon) where everybody--terrorists included--have them.
Drones make sense for fighting a stateless insurgency. The alternative is what every other empire, From the Mongols to Victorian England, has done: kill every man, woman, and child (and sometimes even the dogs and cats) at the slightest sign of resistance. It's an improvement that this is no longer considered standard operating procedure.
The interesting thing will be what happens when the day comes (soon) where everybody--terrorists included--have them.
12
As drones becomes better and cheaper, they will eventually give everyone the power to murder anyone they want without being caught.
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