The American society in which we grew up is one that prides itself on the advancements we continuously make in the technological field. Though there is some value in the use of devices to aid our lazy American culture, the sacrifices of opening our skies to the new drone age greatly outweighs the benefits of making life easier than it already is. While many companies shift to now offer drone delivery right to our doorsteps, the administrators in charge are not paying attention to the laundry list of determinants that can result from our growing reliance and dependence on something which stands as a want as opposed to a necessity.
Drones should not be regarded as the top technological success of our generation when all they are ultimately capable of results in our societal downfall. In order for us to truly understand the importance of the drone, it would make the most sense to further our knowledge on what it actually was designed for. A drone by Webster’s dictionary definition is, “ an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers,” (Webster 1).
A drone in my mind is something resembling that of the rovers astronauts put on Mars. With that said, I can understand why some people are fooled into thinking these drones can flip identities and be helpful in the case of military operations. Michael V. Hayden, a writer for the New York Times, shares a logical view with an illogical reasoning. He confesses that, “The program is not perfect. No military program is. But here is the bottom line: It works.
I think it fair to say that the targeted killing program has been the most precise and effective application of firepower in the history of armed conflict,” (Doc E). While his statement makes sense and even persuades the primarily gullible American population that drones are similar to humans, he fails to express the larger and more impactful picture. Yes, when staring at today with our tunnel vision glasses on, the drone system of military attacks “works”.
What all of us have failed to realize and accept is the long term outcome of the extended use of these killing machines because they “work” now. From Hayden’s statement, humans are guilted into thinking that drones are similar to us, not perfect but showing immediate results and improvement; what they are missing is the information of the drone attacks that kill thousands of innocent people. Document D tells the story of a family who had children take hits from drones they did not know were circling above before suffering the loss of one of their loved ones.
The freedoms we have here in America are not something that all people have else where; however, why would we want to jeopardize the health of those around us, even those in less fortunate nations, just so we can spy on the countries at war with us. Rolling Stone writer John Knefel reminds us that,“There is growing consensus that increased automation of weapons like drones will be possible, if not inevitable, in the future,” (Doc D). A thought like this is not one that sits well in my mind.
I agree with Brandon Bryant’s expressed opinion, that, “’The increased autonomy is most definitely a bad thing…’ ‘The more we remove the human factor in warfare, the easier it is for those issuing the orders to excuse such actions as ‘saving our soldiers. ‘ And once you start making justifications for that, it makes it easier to keep doing it and even escalate. Right and wrong blur, because there ends up being less and less consequence for killing actions,’” (Doc D). All actions have and opposite and equal reaction, something all of us are well aware of.
Without the distinct line between acceptable and unacceptable actions, and the consequences that come with both must be faced. Afterall, America and the world will have to face the inevitable consequences of a no-longer-human-controlled-world if we allow our skies to be roamed and ruled by these flying, murderous, privacy violators. Additionally, the lazy culture of all Americans, which is one we have adapted and accustomed to from before our time, has only been further encouraged by the excessive increased drone usage. Document F informs us of the drone usage in the pizza delivery industry.
Incase Americans were not lazy enough to get into their cars and drive to pick up their greasy and unhealthy pizza, they now have the ease of sitting in their back yards and waiting to press a button on their phones to have their meal in their hands. The Economist highlights another key issue about the increase of drone usage, privacy invasion. With the expanded uses for technology, anyone who is active on internet related products signs an unofficial contract to give up part of their privacy to the governmental agencies who patrol the internet and inspect for threats.
Document B reminds us that “persistent aerial surveillance can become the norm,” (Doc B), and I am not sure a drone infested airspace is something I want my children to grow up in. A father in Kentucky reacted similarly to how I would if I set foot into my backyard and spotted a spy machine hovering over my daughters sunbathing on our property. The peeping Tom related cases swept courtrooms across the nation since “… the hovering drone breaks that agreement,” to respect our neighbors privacy, “and must be punished, just like Tom,” (Doc A).
Margot Kaminski, an author for Slate, informs us that, “Currently, there’s no national regulatory regime in place to handle drone privacy. (There are a number of state privacy laws, but most states have no privacy laws that would cover the sunbather, or persistent tracking by drone, or drone data use. )”, (Doc A). The drone issue now increases the necessity of creating new laws at all levels of government to restrict and regulate the overhead spies. For what it is worth, the miniscule amount of benefits from increased dependance in drones does not outweigh the detrimental costs to the human race and life as we now know it.
If our skies open up to the lurking predators, the chances of a takeover from the technology we put so much power and trust into heightens. I understand we can not go back to a world where it was all about how much work was put in to create the product on one’s own; however, by limiting the expansion of technology through grounding the flying cameras, we will be one step closer to potentially becoming less dependent on something other than our own bodies and minds. Afterall, who would want our generation labeled by the least beneficial technological advancement in all of history… “The Age of the Drones”?
