Timothy Birdnow

A quick thought on the "Shadow Government" business and the attack on Mike Flynn. It seems likely that the leaker to the news outlets is inside one of the national security organizations. Well, who comprises these organizations these days?

Millenials, that's who. The computer age has made computer skills absolutely necessary to these agencies and no older person is really qualified to use the machines, not in the way the young are, who don't just use them (as I do) but who become almost a part of them, an extension of the machine. I learned to use computers as an adult (well, in college) and my skills are limited. There are better people in this world who did what I did, but the young grow up using them and the Millenials are the working-age demographic most capable of handling modern technology.

But the Millenials are also the least educated generation. They are great with gadgets but know little beyond them, and their education has been largely at the hands of liberal teachers and professors who emphasized multiculturalism, social justice, and the other leftist nonsense that has come to dominate education since 1990. So, we have placed our safety in the hands of a generation steeped in political correctness, in alienation and anomie, in materialism and a belief that national borders are so passe', so 20th century.

These are the rank and file in the modern national security apparatus. We do not have tests for political or social or religious beliefs or opinions when we hire, but merely we test for competence and check the general background. We don't know who or what we are getting in these positions. If, say, the NSA needs a data analyst they hire some Millenial with a van dyke and a stocking cap and sandals. See, he's really good with computers! But he may have no common sense and no real feeling for his country. He probably has been raised as a privileged child, hanging out in his parent's basement playing video games and hacking websites. He's a great technician, but is that all there is to it?

No. I suspect many of the people working in our national security agencies are only loyal out of a desire to keep their jobs. If they think they can get away with leaking someting damaging to a President they don't agree with they will do it.

It is an impossible situation; we need the best at computers and the new technology, but the best at that are perhaps the worst in other ways. We are putting social justice warriors in hipster vglasses in sensitive positiions and then wondering why this is producing problems.

I watched the movie Snowden the other day. Of course it's vintage Oliver Stone paranoia, but it got me to thinking; Snowden was where he was because of his extraordinary computer abilities, nothing else. He had a GED, after all. Had it been me, I would have been told to not darken their doorway when I applied for a job at the CIA, but Snowden's grandfather had been a Rear Admiral in the Coast Guard (which got him some doors opened) and his ability with computers made them overlook some of his failings. Whatever one thinks of Snowden or what he did it can well be argued that he was not really mature enough to hold so sensitive a position. Even if Mr. Snowden himself was I doubt many of his associates there were.

(For the record, I tend to support Snowden, as there is a moral issue involved, one that transcends a signed oath of nondisclosure. But it was not to be broken lightly. I don't know if Snowden did break it lightly or not, but ultimately it is immaterial to the events that transpired I know many good conservatives bitterly disagree, seeing him as a traitor. And they are right to do so, becdause you can't let classified information out like that, even in a good cause because those who aren't engaged in a good cause will have a justification for leaking; see what happened in this Mike Flynn affair.)

In bygone days the world was run by older men. While this may have led to a certain ossifycation, it had a real purpose, because the young are quick to re-invent the wheel, and usually crash the car on the wheels that have already been found wanting. Young people had to be tempered by time and trial and eventually would become worthy of running things. No more; the technical revolution has placed them in the big chairs, and those with maturity and the wisdom of age are cast aside as relics. As William F. Nolan said in his novel "Logan's Run" the young use, they do not really create. That was the upshot of the whole novel, and it is well worth reading. (Do not watch the movie except for mild entertainment as it was nowhere near the quality or content of the book.)

Logan's Run is about a civilization ruled by young people where you are euthanized on your 21st birthday to control the population. Logan, a "sandman" or hunter of those who sought to avoid the grim reaper, came to believe (in his quest to destroy the fabled "sanctuary" where "runners" could be free) that his society was dying because there weren't any older, mature people. It's a great novel and well worth reading if you have the time.

At any rate that is the problem in the CIA, NSA, and other agencies; there are too many youths in those places, with too little respect for the culture and institutions of America.

This will only get worse over time.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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