There is a Place in Hell Reserved for Me and My Friends

The Speechreader-in-Chief recently joined the EU's criticism of China's crackdown on foreign news outlets. Of course, his own administration has threatened to do the same to stop journalists in the United States culminating in Alberto Gonzales defending and possibly embracing the idea himself. A strangely eerie development is ongoing with HP.

All of this is certainly not unexpected even five years after 9/11. The most common byproduct of violence or threats to peace, fabricated or real, is the subjugation of civil rights for security. People make these choices willingly and have done so since the time when we were all monkeys running around in packs. Governments across the world have taken the opportunity that 9/11 provided to do just that today. Certainly, bin Laden realized this which makes George Bush's conclusion that they hate us because of our freedom, all the more actual.

The truly scary aspect of it all is that our own high tech corporations are helping the Chinese government maintain the existing brutal regime. As the brutally honest Business Week reports, "major American manufacturers are rushing to supply China's police with the latest information technology."

This report is particularly frightening because it demonstrates the complete lack of moral fiber that a corporation has. Certainly the employees, officers, and directors of the company are interested in a free world for all, but inside of a the brand of their corporation, they are completely powerless to stop its never ending obligations to its shareholders to maximize profit. If that means it is directly aiding a brutal, communist regime, the decision obviously requires little deliberation. In fact, the only concern voiced in this report is adherence to customs regulations to ensure that sensitive technology is not given to the Chinese.

There may be a time, and it may not be far into the future, it may even be now, when this technology will be used against you and me. In the years before World War II, IBM employees developed technology to allow the Nazi regime to keep tabs on its dissidents and perceived enemies. We need not repeat this history, but it is shocking how closely we are doing so.