





Chapter Twenty-seven

PANDORA'S BOX AND THE GREAT TEMPTATION

Some will say that the government would not do the kinds of things described in these pages. The compilers of this material wish this were the case. However, American history is littered with the carcasses of bad science and ill-conceived technologies. Each year, in fact each month, it seems the citizens of all of the countries of the world are introduced to new scandals of military, "intelligence" and governmental abuses. The temptation, the compulsion, and the addiction for more power and control over people are the first evils released from the Pandora's Box of modern gadgetry. The authors are not against technological advancement but, rather, hope science can be pursued in the open light of day and can lead toward improved human conditions. "Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J. FMacDonald - specialist in problems of warfare - says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes 'could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth... In this way, one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period'...No matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades. "340 This statement was made over twenty-five years ago, and was a precursor for what became reality in 1995.



In 1966, MacDonald was a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee and later a member of the President's Council on Environmental Quality. He published papers on the use of environmental control technologies for military purposes. The most profound comment he made as a geophysicist was, "The key to geophysical warfare is the identification of environmental instabilities to which the addition of a small amount of energy would release vastly greater amounts of energy."341 While yesterday's geophysicists predicted today's advances, the HAARP program managers are delivering on the vision.



The geophysicists recognized that adding energy to the environmental soup could have large effects. What was not considered is the fact that humanity has already added substantial amounts of electromagnetic energy into our environment without understanding what might constitute critical mass. The questions come... Have these additions been without effect, or is there a cumulative amount beyond which irreparable damage can be done?

Is HAARP another step in a journey from which we cannot turn back?

Are we about to embark on another energy experiment which unleashes another set of demons from Pandora's box? 340 Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technotronic Era, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Penguin Books, Mass. 1976 341 The Cooling, by Lowell Ponte, 1976, pges. 166-169.



As early as 1970, Zbigniew Brzezinski, later National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, predicted a "more controlled and directed society" would gradually appear, linked to technology. This society would be dominated by an elite group which impresses voters by allegedly superior scientific know-how. "Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control. Technical and scientific momentum would then feed on the situation it exploits" 342, Brzezinski predicted. His forecasts proved accurate beyond what most people would have expected. Today, a number of new tools for the "elite" are emerging, and the temptation to use them increases steadily. The policies to permit use are already in place. We are at the door to our "brave new world".



How would the United States be changed, bit by bit, into the predicted highly controlled technosociety? Among the "steppingstones" Brzezinski expected were persisting social crises and use of the mass media to gain the public's confidence.343



Brzezinski apparently saw that both conservatives and "the doctrinaire left" might be inclined to justify heavy handed tactics. The left could say that it serves progress, and the conservatives, "preoccupied with public order and fascinated by modern gadgetry, would be tempted to use the new techniques as a response to unrest, since they would fail to recognize that social control is not the only way to deal with rapid social change."344 Even today, February 25, 1995, as we write these words, NBC Nightly News is announcing the widespread domestic surveillance of Americans and others, through the CIA's and NSA's monitoring and intrusion into the global Internet. When does the proliferation of power end and a new compact with freedom begin?



Brzezinski's vision, expressed in his book 25 years ago, was a prophetic view of the state of the world. It predicted a direction which time has proven correct, in terms of outcome. Those predictions yet to be realized are profound, and could lead to a very different and less desirable world. The idea that science is the hammer of politicians is a reality which people can not ignore. Government should consider a shift - from war to peace - for the use of these very advanced research efforts.



The possibilities of these innovations offer all people an opportunity to excel in health and intelligence. All men and women should press for opening these technologies to positive and constructive, rather than destructive, purposes.



342 Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Penguin Books, Mass. 1976,

343 Ibid. 344 Ibid.



What propels these advances into the wrong directions'? It is the tax dollars of unwitting Americans.



The system which can promote the use of science, for the true advancement of mankind, is an open system with a focus on individual opportunities for self actualization. Systems which promote secrecy by military and intelligence leaders are fundamentally wrong. They are too likely to be misused, which has been amply demonstrated in govern-mental systems. Government flows from the people, and should be a full reflection of the value and belief systems of people, and not some shadow of the will of those with secret agendas, hidden in the dark rooms of paranoia. We must press government to reflect our collective views towards a more balanced world, embracing foundational ideas upon which good governments are formed. Back to Contents