We have become a nation adrift in a sea of government overreach, abuse, and corruption.
Below is a sobering account of the challenges we face in 2024. That challenge has been marked by endless government power grabs and relentless attacks on our civil liberties.
In 2024, government overreach and abuse of power continued to increase. The militarization of police continues unabated, with local departments increasingly resembling extensions of the military. Schools, which are supposed to be places of learning and growth, have become more like prisons with the introduction of “safety” measures that criminalize minor infractions and create an environment of fear. Rights to private property were further eroded, and the government increasingly had the power to seize assets under various pretexts. The plight of the homeless worsened, with cities implementing policies that criminalized homelessness and made their lives even more difficult. Veterans, once hailed as heroes, have come to be treated with increasing suspicion and scrutiny.
On almost every front this year, the government overreached and abused its powers.
With every new law enacted by Congress and state legislatures, with new judgments handed down by government courts, with new military weapons, invasion tactics, and terrible protocols employed by government agencies, we We were reminded of what happened in the eyes of the government and its accomplices: , “We the People” have no rights except those granted by the Deep State as necessary.
Surveillance has eroded what little privacy we have left.
The surveillance state has expanded further. Facial recognition technology is expanding into new areas of our lives, and vast amounts of biometric data are being collected, often without our knowledge or consent, eroding our anonymity and breaking precedent. No tracking of our movements is now possible. Data breaches continue to expose the vulnerability of personal information.
Freedom of speech continued to be under attack.
Protest laws, free speech zones, and other restrictions made it more difficult for citizens to exercise their First Amendment rights. Social media companies often colluded with the government and engaged in censorship of views they deemed unacceptable. This online censorship creates echo chambers and restricts the free flow of information.
The influence of the deep state and military-industrial complex continued to grow.
Endless wars overseas drained the nation's resources but did little to keep Americans safe. The military-industrial complex's control over nearly every aspect of American life increased.
Presidents have become more imperialistic.
Although the Constitution gives the president very specific and limited powers, in recent years American presidents have asserted the power to completely and almost unilaterally change the landscape of this country, for better or for worse. The power that successive presidents have amassed through the inaction of Congress and the courts – a power that is a toolbox of terror for imperial rulers – extends beyond the law and into practice, regardless of who occupies the Oval Office. It gives him the authority to act as a dictator beyond his responsibilities. . The presidency itself became an empire with permanent powers.
The cost of endless wars pushed the country deeper into debt.
Policing the world and waging endless wars abroad has not made America or the rest of the world any safer, but it has enriched the military-industrial complex with tax dollars.
The court failed to uphold justice.
Time and time again, the Supreme Court has failed to right the wrongs policed by America's police state. Looking back at important court decisions over the past decade or so, including some ominous rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, we find that pro-police state decisions by institutions more concerned with establishing order and protecting the ruling class and government We should prioritize representation over defending the rights enshrined in the Constitution, which reveals a surprising and steady trend.
The rich got richer and the poor were sent to prison.
The court was not satisfied with expanding the police state's powers to search, strip, seize, raid, steal, arrest, and imprison American citizens, no matter how trivial, and the courts imposed hefty fines. continued the practice of imprisoning individuals who were unable to pay. by the American police state. These debtor's prisons are in the hands of those who make a profit by imprisoning Americans. This is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Japan is rapidly becoming a government “of the rich, of the elite, of big business,” and its rise to power means American taxpayers are being guarded by a corps of politicians, bureaucrats, and militarized police. It is assumed that the debtor will be tied up in prison. There is no hope of parole or chance of escape.
Police became more militarized and weaponized.
Despite concerns that the government was steadily converting local police forces into standing armies, local police agencies continued to acquire weapons, training, and equipment suitable for the battlefield. Reportedly, there are now more bureaucratic (non-military) government civilians armed with high-tech lethal weapons than there are U.S. Marines.
Schools have become prisons.
So-called school “safety” policy. These range from zero-tolerance policies that severely punish all violations, to surveillance cameras, metal detectors, surprise searches, drug-sniffing dogs, school lockdowns, active shooter training, and armed police officers. , turned schools into prisons and young people into prisoners.
The government has waged a new war on private property.
The fight to protect our private property became the last constitutional boundary, the last stand against the encroachment on our freedoms. We no longer have title to the property. The house you live in, the car you drive, the money you managed to keep in your bank account after the government and its cronies took away your first, second, and third share…all of it is in the hands of the government's greed. You cannot escape from its grasp. You never have real ownership of anything other than the clothes you carry on your back. Everything else can be seized by the government on any pretext (civil asset forfeiture, unpaid taxes, prominent land, public interest, etc.).
In summary, 2024 was a disappointing year for those who value freedom.
But no matter who sits in the White House, politics will never fix a system that is irreparably broken.
As my book Battlefield America: The War Against the American People and its fictional work The Eric Blair Diaries make clear, we are at our most vulnerable right now. The most serious threat we face as a nation in 2025 is not extremism but despotism. , exercised by a ruling class loyal only to power and money.
About John and Nisha Whitehead:
Constitutional lawyer and author John W. Whitehead is the founder and director of the Rutherford Institute. His most recent books, The Erik Blair Diaries and Battlefield America: The War on the American People, are available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be reached at (email protected). Nisha Whitehead is Executive Director of the Rutherford Institute. Information about the Rutherford Institute can be found at www.rutherford.org.
