iSpy Chapter 6

The theory presented by Andrejevic in this chapter is really intriguing. To me, it hearkens back to the Red Scare of the 1950s. When presented with an outside, intangible thread (like both communism and terrorism), it seems that Americans tend to pull out their knives in order to guard themselves from their own neighbors. In the 1950s, this manifested itself through MacCarthyism, but now, perhaps because of technology, the focus has shifted. Now, we are asked to "report any suspicious looking luggage" and to "not leave our bags unattended" as if there was a cell of terrorists in the Albany "International" airport that were tasked with planting bombs in our backpacks. We have been trained to be suspicious of everyone, because since our 'enemy' is faceless, it could be anyone.

"Individualized Warfare" seems like a problematic phenomenon. As we have seen both in Vietnam and Afganistan, guns and explosives are surprisingly ineffective against ideologies. The mass use of force tends to inflict more harm against the superpower than it does against the ideology. Our enemy is not a person, it is a thought.