Drones – the sound of that word reminds you of a cold wailing siren of death. Eyes in the skies. Hell from above. You may have heard about drones in the news lately, especially the ones that the US military are using to vaporize suspected terrorists and enemies of freedom. But what exactly is a drone anyway and why should you care about them?
Drones are in fact robot-like, unmanned flying vehicles used for a range of stealth activities including surveillance, attacks, and data gathering. These drones will play an increasingly significant role in which our society will be controlled by law enforcement agencies.
Drone usage is increasingly popular because they can go into areas where a manned vehicle cannot. Drones are remotely controlled and can also fly around on auto pilot, programmed to discover and collect video and audio. They vary in size, from as small as a penny and up to the size of an aircraft.
Using drones for attacks is easy and can be done in many deadly ways. Equipping missiles, guns, tear gas and other chemical weapons to a drone makes it a versatile offensive option. Crowd control for example, would be more manageable and require less human intervention.
Although drones can be used for military reasons, they are very useful for more ethical reasons as well. This includes mapping, locating missing persons, monitoring traffic and large geographical areas, search and rescue and so much more. In fact, people are finding new ways they can harness the usefulness of drones all the time.
The Obama administration has been a big fan of using drones to carry out stealth kills on suspected enemies of America. The feather in his cap being the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Drones were essential in monitoring and attacking targets and buildings during Osama’s takedown.
While drones have been successful at killing its terrorist targets, they are also killing innocent people and bystanders. According to various independent reports, drones are responsible for the killing of approximately 200 children during attacks on suspected terrorists in the Pakistan and Yemen region. Drone attacks have accounted for 30% bystander civilian deaths during pursuit of their targets.
Predator Drone
The Predator is the US military’s star drone. 50 civilians are killed for every 1 terrorist.
With all the success drones are enjoying in international warfare, its usage has trickled down into local state and provincial enforcement. Canadian law enforcement agencies have enthusiastically opened up to the use of drones in their own activities. This is cause for worry among Canadians since current police and RCMP track record seems to suggest that our rights and privacy are subject to their needs. If the G20 incident in Toronto proved anything, it’s that the rules apply only to you.
The future is very near where drones will be cheap enough to produce and small enough to constantly monitor and target large amounts people at once. The OPP currently uses drones for certain police missions and are very excited about expanding usage of this new technology. The OPP maintains that they will only use drones under the current guidelines and laws.
What’s worrisome is that laws are constantly changed as needed. Don’t be surprised to see drones used to carry out corporate policies enforced by government bodies. An example of this would be using drones to monitor you by insurance companies. Our government could make it mandatory, allowing insurance companies to collect your location and driving habits to determine your risk to their profit margins.
Is the world unfair? Thinking of making a difference? Want to join a protest? Well don’t forget drones can spray tear gas and shoot rubber pellets at you. They’re very effective at dispersing crowds like pesky little protesters.
The good news for police and city coffers is that drones can be great for capturing speeders and traffic violators. They can even capture video of your violation just to prove it to the courts. Without the need for an officer to set up speed traps, you could be efficiently ticketed by those sneaky, uptight, little drones that nobody likes to play with.
Micro Drone ready to spy on you
A Micro drone can be used to spy on you or even attack you. These only get smaller in the future.
In what is more like a futuristic nightmare straight out of the movies our lives will be carefully scanned by the all seeing drones. In 10 years we could easily see the evolution of drones to the point that they will become so small, they’re almost invisible. They’ll be more functional and lethal than ever. As the world continues to explode in population (7 billion and counting) and resources diminish, drones could be very effective for population control and management.
Since drones can be useful little robots, or mechanical birds of death, it is up to us to apply the right usage to them. The appeal of drones will make them a favourite in US and Canadian law enforcement due to their versatility.
This all sounds very depressing for society, however it’s important that Canadians become aware of this trend. So what can you do to avoid this nightmare of a future? There’s not much you can do to stop drone technology, but you can use your vote to keep them from controlling your lives. Milwaukee has recently voted to ban the use of drone technology in the state because of overwhelming concerns about its misuse.
Let your MPs know that drones are a big issue for Canadians and that your privacy and rights be kept from overt monitoring and control by drones. Make your vote count. That’s what you can do. In fact, it’s the only thing you can do.
