CBP’s plan to extend their surveilance aparatus within our community should make your skin crawl. If it doesn’t, you’re the kind of person who turned Jews over to the Nazis during the 3rd Reich. That is, unaffected by the state consolidating power into undemocratic and terroristic organs. For now. You should know the Niemöller poem by now:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Of course, caring about the modern day Einsatzgruppen only because they’ll come for you eventually is shitty. But that’s what I expect at this point from most people within our highly individualstic society, so that’s the path I’m taking. The thing is, the ways they (they being the local and federal governments) will come for us are as varied as we are. Some of us will face direct violence from pigs in the street, while others will deal with the continued, but accelerating, austerity slow-bleed so intergral to neoliberal politics. You may feel safe and comfortable now, but the more the state chips away at the decaying remnants of our social safety nets, the closer you are to one bad day putting you on the streets and within the reach of the most violent gang ever to roam our streets: the police.

If you have your doubts about the impact these towers would have on our communities or think I’m exaggerating, please read the below passage:

Anyone who doubts the impact that surveillance towers would have on Vermont communities can look to other border regions where similar towers – accompanied by Border Patrol checkpoints, roving patrol stops, surveillance drones, and other increasingly intrusive measures – have profoundly deteriorated quality of life and resulted in widespread abuses, to the point that those communities are virtually unrecognizable.

Those of us within the F-35’s flight path don’t need anyone to tell us the ill-effects these towers will have. We live daily with the reminder that our government cares more about maintaining it’s imperialist agenda than it does about the lives of the citizens within it’s borders. Just think about this future: deadly war-machines flying over the heads of our children, doing God knows what to their development while we’re all profiled and surveiled by these towers! Guess what, we’re over halfway there! If that’s a future you’ll do anything to stop, then write to: CBPSwantonSectorEA_RVSS@parsons.com (subject line should read “CBP Swanton Sector EA) and tell them what I told you.