Well, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that we’re no longer living in a country “of the people, by the people, for the people”—assuming that we ever did—but if the article linked to below is even remotely true, it begs the questions:
- What’s the point of having a country?
- What’s the point of having citizens?
Article Highlights
- Chinese Tech Support: Microsoft is using engineers in China to help maintain the Defense Department’s computer systems — with minimal supervision by U.S. personnel.
- Skills Gap: Digital escorts often lack the technical expertise to police foreign engineers with far more advanced skills, leaving highly sensitive data vulnerable to hacking.
- Ignored Warnings: Various people involved in the work told ProPublica that they warned Microsoft that the arrangement is inherently risky, but the company launched and expanded it anyway.
What really pisses me off is that the United States goes around the world acting tough, forcing its will on other countries, and engaging in and supporting pointless wars, while the very source of its power to do these things is being eroded precipitously. Does the current generation in power ever stop to think about the possible blow-back of their actions for future generations? Of course not. We’re going to wake up one day with the sudden realization that all our levers of power no longer work and we’re totally irrelevant—and that’s the happy ending.