Do not Work for the Department of\r\nDefense<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
You've been studying for years, working\r\non your technical, scientific or mathematical degree. The time of\r\nstudying is coming to an end and you realize that you must begin\r\nseeking employment. A glance at the Help Wanted ads reveals an\r\nassortment of opportunities. Many of the most interesting, it would\r\nappear, include the requirement of \"citizenship\" or the\r\nsuccessful acquisition of a security clearance. You imagine yourself\r\nas an intelligence agent. You imagine yourself as a software\r\nengineer working on cutting edge research for a defense contractor. \r\nWould it hurt to at least try? Perhaps you will get that security\r\nclearance. These positions often pay well.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
The truth is, working for the\r\nDepartment of Defense or an intelligence agency could be the worst\r\nmistake you will ever make. On a moral basis, there is no\r\nwiggle-room. If you choose to work for the military or an\r\nintelligence agency, you have made a mistake, for you have offered\r\nyourself up to assist in murder in exchange for pay. There is no\r\nlower calling for a human being. However, let us suppose that you\r\nare not a moral person to begin with and this, at least at the\r\nmoment, does not matter to you. Does taking a job which requires a\r\nsecurity clearance have practical negative effects on your life that\r\nwill persist beyond your tenure with shady government agencies and\r\ntheir corporate enablers?<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Let's begin and the beginning. Suppose\r\nyou interview for a position requiring a security clearance. A quick\r\ninitial investigation based on the information you provide is made\r\nand an offer is given to you. The offer is contingent upon the\r\ngovernment deciding to give you the security clearance. That process\r\ncan take anywhere from three months to a year. In the meanwhile, you\r\nare given work and issued a provisional low level clearance. To\r\naccept the job, you must turn down other offers and hope that you\r\nwill not be dismissed from your job when the investigation is\r\ncomplete.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
When you start your new job, you must\r\nfill out a large set of forms with probing questions about your\r\npersonal beliefs, prior drug use, sexual history, and a long list of\r\nprior associates, the names and addresses of neighbors, everyone you\r\never worked with, and so on and so forth. You may need to take a\r\nseries of polygraph tests, drug tests, and so on as well. You will\r\nbe finger printed. Your finger prints will be submitted to the FBI\r\nas well as the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and, in all\r\nlikelihood, other government agencies. The FBI and DIA (and perhaps\r\nthe CIA as well) will all open up files on you into which information\r\nwill be collected, on an ongoing basis, for the rest of your life. \r\nYou are now a person of interest.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Upon receiving your clearance (and you\r\nprobably will receive it, after all, I received one), you will face\r\nnew restrictions. You will be required to report to a security\r\nagency any prolonged, extended, or romantic encounters with foreign\r\nnationals. You will need to obtain prior approval for foreign travel\r\n(even after you leave the employment of the agency for some period of\r\nyears) and you must willingly agree not to travel is they determine\r\nthey do not want you to. Anything you publish while in their employ\r\nand for several years (in some cases, 20 years) thereafter will need\r\nto be approved by the agency.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Let us suppose that you take the job,\r\nyou like it, and you decide to make a career of it. In all\r\nlikelihood, this means that you are a shallow person willing to give\r\nup your liberty in exchange for a salary slightly above what you\r\nmight receive otherwise. It also means that you are willing to\r\ncontribute to war and murder for pay. You will be surrounded, on a\r\ndaily basis, with like-minded sociopaths. These sociopaths will\r\nbecome your social circle. You will all bey like sheep together and\r\nnearly everyone you know will be willing to stab you in the back to\r\nget ahead because, after all, like you, everyone you know is a\r\nsociopath.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
On the other hand, if you decide to\r\nleave the employ of the evil beast and chalk your error up to\r\nyouthful indiscretion, the fact remains that you are now a person of\r\ninterest. The files about you will continue to grow. Your contacts\r\nwill continue to be scrutinized, and if you, by some miracle, come to\r\ngrow a conscience and take up social or political activism, you will\r\nbecome a target.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\"A target!\" you exclaim. \r\nWhat could I possibly have learned while working for that dark beast\r\nthat would me it worth their while to silence or discredit me? The\r\nanswer is, probably nothing at all. That's not the point. The point\r\nis that they will do this because they can do this. The kind of\r\nperson that chooses to be an intelligence agent hates free thinkers. \r\nMore than anything, this kind of person hates anyone that would\r\nquestion the Government. The Defense Intelligence Agency, for\r\nexample, stipulates that you may work in their employ if and only if\r\n\"he\/she has unquestioned loyalty to the U.S.\" It's one\r\nthing to reject the position of the U.S. Government, but it is\r\nanother thing entirely to have once been embraced by the spooks and\r\nthen to turn around, reject their evil realm, and work against them. \r\nThat makes you an enemy.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Now, you would think that after 20\r\nyears they would forget about you and just give up, but they won't. \r\nIt's forever.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Many people have worked for the DoD or\r\nthe DIA and quit without having a problem. It is not about the\r\nquitting, it is about what you do after you quit. If you join a\r\nrevolutionary organization or actively work against the policies and\r\ngoals of the Department of Defense, they will interfere with your\r\nlife.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n
I propose that if you are an\r\nintelligent, creative, or compassionate person; or if someday you\r\nthink you might be; working for the Department of Defense or an\r\nintelligence agency is a mistake you will never outlive. Think not\r\nonce or twice before walking down that path, but think many times and\r\nthen make the choice not to walk down that path. There are many\r\nproductive, interesting, and cutting edge jobs out there that are not\r\nassociated with the Department of Defense, DIA, or CIA. Keep your\r\nlifetime options open. Do not sell yourself short by selling your\r\nfreedom. You will learn nothing worth the sacrifice by working for\r\nthe darkness.<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Working for the Department of Defense is not worth it.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2008\/02\/213930.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}