< On the other hand, as I always ask conspiracy theorists, "what if his presence in this role *serves* the Deep State?" >
To clarify, I’m talking about the hypothesis of a Deep State that breaks rules as they need to be broken to advance the general welfare of people in the country & world.
I didn't know anyone hypothesized this version... the people I
know who run on incessantly about "Deep State" seem to be
categorically talking about a deeply non-altruistic version.
And my original point still (might) hold(s) if we push the
ends/means justification far enough. What if having Trump in
office somehow *does* advance the general welfare of the people
(and sentient animals) in the country and the world? Sort of a
"back fire" against the more effective, institutionalized fascist
narcissism of the "shallow state/culture/..."?
The version you reference here, reminds me (quite tangentially)
of the collective sub-protaganists in John Brunner's 1984 novel
"Shockwave Rider" where a collective of well meaning individuals
set up (Precipice) to provide a ubiquitous anonymous ear (Hearing
Aid) for anyone "just needing to talk".
From Wikipedia's plot summary:
Precipice turns out to be a Utopian community of a few thousand people. The nearest comparison would be an agrarian, cottage industry community designed by William Morris. Precipice is also the home of "Hearing Aid", an anonymous telephone confession service accessible to anyone in the country. Hearing Aid is also known as the "Ten Nines", after the phone number used to call it: 999-999-9999. People call the service, a human operator answers, and they simply talk while the operator listens. Some rant, others seek sympathy, still others commit suicide while on the phone. Hearing Aid's promise is that nobody else, not even the government, will hear the call. The only response Hearing Aid gives to a caller is "Only I heard that, I hope it helped."
A million plot twists aside, the bottom line (as I remember it
when I read it) was that the *collective* knowledge/intelligence
of the members of Precipice gained by having listened to millions
of people talk openly to them about their greatest hopes/fears
gave them some incredible advantage/perspective which supported
their Utopian ideals (nominally altruistic in the sense you
reference above). As I remember it, this consequence was an
entirely unintended side-consequence.
I don’t have any doubt that the kind of Deep State you are describing exists, but that reality is more the failure of organizations to police themselves than a (sub)organization that has become especially autonomous and potent.
I would suppose that any and all criminal organizations which have penetrated various parts of "the State" *are* this. The (alleged?) criminal elements of the CIA and/or foreign equivalents (e.g KGB) or even the Mexican Federal Police, for example.
Is this another example of the conflation of "absence of evidence" with "evidence of absence"?
- Steve
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