No Secrets: Full Disclosure Under Scrutiny

Speaking Out: So You Think You Have Nothing to Hide?

Guest Writer: Todd Hayen

The "nothing to hide" mantra is all too familiar, but is it an accurate reflection of the current state of affairs? In this post, I'll challenge the misconception that those with "nothing to hide" have nothing to fear.

Oh, how I've heard that phrase, "Why should I worry? I have nothing to hide," more times than I care to remember. It's a bold declaration of innocence, an assumption that the only reason one would have to worry about repercussions is if they've committed a crime. But what about the gray areas? The insidious acts that don't quite fit into the black and white of law books.

But let's set aside the attitudes of authority for a moment; let's focus on the sheer absurdity of the statement itself. What constitutes a crime, anyway? And where is this strange misunderstanding that authority only cares about "laws" when they want to move in on someone?

Of course, the folks who shout "nothing to hide" wouldn't believe for a nanosecond that authority would come after them illegally, out of the blue, or for ulterior motives. Paranoid conspiracy theorists, they'd call them. Overreacting. "You've seen too many spy movies," they might say-movies about East Germany or the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Only those oppressive governments would do such things. Here in the "free world," we're immune from such shenanigans. "We're past that kind of cloak-and-dagger crap,"they might say.

But isn't that the game these days? Naïveté. Or denial. Or stupidity. Or a serious lack of common sense.

I, for one, and I'd venture to guess most of you reading this, don't need a lot to see how short-sighted this line of thinking is-and how incomplete it is. You don't have to believe that every move you make is being scrutinized and puts you in harm's way to at least realize and understand the potential for things to go awry, and we could end up screwed. And we're rapidly approaching a time when every move we make will be under scrutiny, examined, recorded, assessed, and used against us. Whether we have "nothing to hide" or not.

I put "against" in quotes because it's no longer about breaking an obvious law or rule for consequences to be levied. The "against" at this point can be much more subtle than being punished severely, beaten by thugs, or thrown in prison. "Against" can be simpler than those extreme acts, it can be being barred from social media or the internet altogether, it can be having your email stop functioning, not being allowed to drive more than a few miles from home, not being "approved" for a loan, or being unable to shop at a grocery store.

On and on and on.

I'm not suggesting we're in for physical beatings (or forced vaccine injections) or incarcerations just yet. But it's more likely those will become common in the future. But it won't start with that.

People may not have criminal acts to hide, as the saying goes, but that doesn't mean they're not being watched, manipulated, and controlled. As time goes by, the "criminal" acts they believe they're not guilty of will become less and less easy to avoid-criminality now includes supporting a "cause" we might believe in, yet goes against the mainstream narrative. Take my case, for instance-my bank accounts were frozen after I donated $150 to the Truckers during the Truckers' Convoy in Canada. An innocent enough act, right? Not even a crime on the books. But I was treated like a criminal.

Family members of mine supported the government's actions. They told me I should not be supporting a "criminal" cause (the truckers "taking over Ottawa"). And if I had kept quiet and not spoken out, I would not have been "punished."

Really?

I'm a child of the '60s, and protesting was a natural way of life. When people are punished for legally and peacefully expressing their views, even if it goes against the government, then we've truly slipped into a totalitarian regime.

But the masses don't see it that way. They stick to their safe spaces, staying out of trouble no matter what's happening. They believe anyone making their voices heard over the din of government corruption is wrong and should rightfully be punished. They declare, "I have nothing to hide, I would never do such a thing."

Whitney Webb, in her excellent two-volume treatise on American corruption, One Nation Under Blackmail, calls this "passive obedience." Slowly but surely, people's interpretation of what is "too much" expands to include simple speech, agreement with a contrary idea, and expression of what they believe is right. "Stay under the radar," they say, as they sip their lattes at the neighborhood Starbucks, "I don't want to cause any trouble."

Yes, it used to be that before authority came down on you, you'd have to have committed an actual crime. It wasn't easy to find people committing crimes, after all. It took investigation, effort, time, and resources. It was expensive. Even citing someone for speeding required a motorcycle cop hidden behind a billboard on a highway known for speeders. There was no radar then, no traffic cameras with advanced technology capable of catching lawbreakers effortlessly and issuing tickets automatically with no human intervention.

Look at warfare today-drones. And drones aren't just being developed for military use; they're being increasingly used for local crime surveillance, and it won't be long before they're employed for apprehending and even punishing alleged violators and innocent citizens.

Innocent? Well, if you stay under the radar and do NOTHING that could be perceived as a breach, then you have nothing to hide from the ever-watchful drone, the robo dog-cop patrolling your neighborhood, or the webcam on your laptop or iPhone.

But that won't be enough. The ultimate goal isn't to punish those who break the law to keep society "safe" (although that, of course, is what they constantly tell us). The ultimate goal is control. And control is achieved through constant fear. It won't require much to fall under the thumb of authority. It won't require much time, money, or even human scrutiny to tag people once all the pieces are in place (digital IDs, CBDC, surveillance everywhere, bio-ID, etc.).

Punishment (in the form of limitations on freedoms, sometimes physical pain, etc.) will be dished out to just about anyone for just about anything. And we usually won't even know why. It will become impossible to hide anything, and anything will get you in trouble.

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