I
was reading a story from a few months ago about Amazon handing over large
amounts of data to law enforcement and it prompted me to wrestle with the question
of Amazon, Bezos and what it all represents. Immediately I thought of my past
wranglings with Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart troubled me for both practical and ideological
concerns and I turned away from that company years ago. And yet even then (in
2011) Amazon was a force to be reckoned with and was just as culpable in the
changing of society and the resulting negative effects. But Amazon itself has
profoundly changed over just the past few years. Bezos is now the world's
richest man and in many ways he represents a new trend, maybe even a new vision
for not just the retail world but society and the way business will function
within it.
Unlike the other tech companies associated with Silicon
Valley, Amazon is not even pretending to emulate the values of the Boomer generation.
Autonomy, personal liberty, privacy and scepticism regarding the state were
values that figures like Steve Jobs and others supposedly stood for. Whether
they actually did or not is open for discussion.
But Jeff Bezos clearly has no ideology apart from a quest for
money and power and as a consequence his star has risen rapidly. He's been a
household name for quite a few years (Time's Man of the Year 1999) but despite
this, his recent rise into the upper echelons of wealth can safely be described
as meteoric.
Being a financial colossus apparently isn't enough, or
perhaps one could simply say that when you attain a certain degree of wealth,
you have to start thinking on a different level. Wealth is translated and
begins to transcend currency. Capital becomes something much more than
liquidity or questions of finance. Bezos has certainly reached that point.
Of course for those like me who long ago eschewed Wal-Mart
out of ethical concerns, we are left with a dilemma. Wal-Mart is but one odious
example of Capitalist monopoly and power that is working to undermine American
society and virtually rape the world.
I say this and yet I publish this on a Google platform. I've
been an Amazon customer since 2002. Now granted I often purchase items from
secondary vendors using the Amazon website. I myself have sold many books on
Amazon utilising just such a sales platform. But nevertheless I've played my
part in helping Amazon be what it is. I'm hardly pure in this matter.
But what now? Do I want to support Bezos and the atrocity he
has created, the monster data/cloud computing center that is in close
collaboration with the US Deep State? Do I want to support Bezos as he seeks to
expand his empire? Apart from exploiting his workers he wants to challenge the
grocery sector, ironically Wal-Mart on multiple fronts, he's built an
unprecedented data collection, collation and processing apparatus and he's
looking at taking on freight carriers like FedEx and UPS. He's inserting himself into health care,
aerospace and news media. His influence in the venture capital sector is vast,
probably beyond normative scales of reckoning and thus his influence crosses
spheres and spectrums. He's moved way beyond being the head of a successful
company that tries to keep its customers happy. That was but a stepping stone,
a means to an end.
Should I boycott Amazon? Of course, but it's reached a point
that I must admit defeat. In avoiding Wal-Mart we have been forced to rely on
dollar stores and failing outlets like K-Mart. Of course ethically they have
nothing over Wal-Mart, they just have different versions of the same model. Did
Wal-Mart destroy the shopping mall and city centres? Yes, but the shopping mall
had already contributed to the destruction of city centres a decade earlier. Wal-Mart
just finished them off. This is Capitalism at work. One person's boom is all
too often built on another's bust. It's Social Darwinism on a grand scale and
the waste and destruction it leaves behind cannot be overstated.
Wal-Mart is a long way from being taken down but dollar
stores and online shopping is starting to seriously challenge the model. A
trade war with China could potentially hurt the dollar stores, but Wal-Mart
will be taking a direct hit.
I don't know what the answer is. There isn't one of course.
But I'm referring to an 'answer' in terms of a Christian ethical response. I
wrestle with whether or not we will reach a point in which we have to all but
'un-plug' from the mainstream of society. When I visit nearby cities I like to
go to the old city centres and the rougher shopping districts that are more
reminiscent of what shopping in Mexico used to be like when I was kid. It's a
world of cash and sometimes barter, a world of ignored building codes and
little in the way of mainstream accountability. There are plusses and minuses
to this world but its appeal for me is growing. I am beginning to embrace the
dystopia and in divorcing myself from the world of the Middle-Class and all its
values I find myself drawn to litter-strewn streets and dilapidated old
buildings. I walk streets where many languages other than English are heard.
It's all rather ironic though as many of these people would (if they could)
escape to the world of brand-names and cookie-cutter subdivisions.
Our society is pushing us into a model of extreme conformity
that is starting to wear away the edges of maintainable integrity. The circle
of permissiveness is fairly broad in some respects but narrow in others. But
for Biblical Christians let alone those seriously committed to New Testament
Kingdom ethics, the circle is rapidly closing in.
Anyone familiar with my writings knows that I'm no
Libertarian or survivalist trying to live off the grid. Not at all. Rather, I
do believe that the system is hopelessly corrupt and those that flourish within
it are (whether they realise it or not) part of that corruption. Those at the
bottom, or near bottom like me are forced into corners and either we make hard
choices or we cave-in and essentially sell our souls to the system... just to
survive.
A society can reach a point in which its legal system is such
that everyone is a law-breaker... every day. The only issue is whether or not
you run afoul of the enforcement mechanism and whether you have money to
extricate yourself from the bureaucracy's grip.*
Injustice will always be the norm in a fallen world but
sometimes the state reaches a level of corruption in which there is no hope of
justice apart from being plugged into the mainstream. In a plutocracy only
those with the money and their subset/servant class can function within or
navigate the system. The second class folks, the outsiders have no hope.
Of course many minorities will read this and say... welcome
to our world. You just now figured this out?
I realise this has been the norm for many in our society and
yet I'm talking about embracing
second-class citizenship or even just being part of a permanent under-class on a Christian basis. It's one thing to embrace it in principle and
float about on the edges. It's another to put that principle into practice and
live it.
When society forces you to live a certain way, maintain a
certain lifestyle and generate a certain income to be 'respectable' and thus
have the ability to access the mainstream... things get hard.
And yet 'hard' is our lot. It's what we're called to. But
what if 'hard' becomes impossible because in order to maintain that minimum
level of respectability (and thus possess access to the system) we have to sell
out our principles and values?
That I won't do and that's something I think a lot of
Christians have not even begun to reckon with. How it is applied is not easy
question and that too complicates the issue but at this time most Christians,
most Evangelicals and Confessionalists (I'm not even talking about Roman
Catholics and Mainline Liberals) still accept social norms and the assumptions
of respectability. Some are feeling the strain. I'm not talking about wedding
cakes and praying at the school flagpole, or even tax-exempt status for Church
finances, though that may indeed be what most of them are worrying about. I'm
talking about ordering your family and life along Biblical lines, living as a
pilgrim in society, earning your money by working with your own hands and
refusing to turn to the state for justice/vengeance.
In no way am I criticising fellow Christians who take help
for basic needs. I will only say this, don't abuse the system. It's rotten and
rigged and in many ways you're all but forced to take the help and if and when
you do, there's a bunch of vultures making money off that too. In some cases,
like with healthcare you (legally) may not have a choice and so do what you
have to do. It's Babylon's system. If they throw crumbs to the poor to keep
them quiet, so be it. But don't expect it. Don't demand it. Don't place your
hope in it. Do what you have to do and press on. But realise there may be a
point in which we're either cut off or have to cut ourselves off.
There's a danger in putting your trust in the system but
there's also a danger in the pride of rugged individualism and often a
blindness that accompanies it. I know of many braggarts of this stripe who are
in reality blind as to how much they too depend on the system. We all do to a
degree.
But as it was in second century Rome or for underground Christians
living in 11th and 12th century Europe, or even for many
living in places like China in our own day... there comes a time when you can't
keep the law. You're a criminal by default, just for breathing and following
God. This dilemma is generated by the reality that the state has become a Beast
power and is claiming divine status and the citizenry's absolute obedience and
even devotion. More on that in a moment.
At that point you don't turn to crime or self-seeking
transactive legal and economic loopholes. But at the same time, you press on
and feed your family. And if that means I have to work off the grid or avoid
being plugged in... to whatever degree that is possible anymore... then I'll do
it. It will make me something of a petty criminal in the eyes of men, but not
in the eyes of God. One has to be very careful here. These waters are deep and
it's very easy to lose your way and begin to justify sinful actions. We may
become criminals but we are still moral regardless of how the state labels us.
What does this have to do with Amazon's data systems and Jeff
Bezos? Nothing, and everything.
Society is rapidly changing. People have suggested we're
moving back toward the era of the robber barons. There's certainly an analogy
but it's quite different this time. The 19th century was still an
era of frontier. There were places you could go. Governments are inefficient
today but back then they didn't have the technology or means to track people
down. Not even fifty years ago when I was a kid, my mother could flee the state
with me and we basically couldn't be found. One had to employ private
detectives who might have to get on an airplane or run up huge expenses to hunt
someone down. Today, these things can be done sitting at a computer.
It's a different world and there are a growing number of evil
people like Jeff Bezos who trample convention, tradition and all historical
notions of decency and even society. To be blunt, these men are monsters and we
should be concerned for they are very powerful and they're only getting
started.
The American Empire is already a Beast power and probably the
most powerful in history. It may not be the most evil but it certainly makes
the top 10 list if there's a way to quantify such things. Most Americans won't
see this because they've either been brainwashed or they're ignorant of
America's real story both in terms of its North American Empire as well as its
Global one. And yet its powers are on the verge of taking a quantum leap.
Unless you've been asleep since 2001, the social, legal and technological
changes have vastly changed the landscape and we're entering a new phase of
society and governance. It's not just America. To varying degrees the developed
nations of the Earth are pursuing similar projects. Can this trajectory be
stopped? Yes, but that will mean social collapse and possibly a global war.
None of the options seem very promising. If I wasn't a Christian I would be in
a state of despair and indeed many thinkers who wrestle with history and
current events are trying to sound the warning. We need to be vigilant but we
needn't despair.
I'm not a Dispensationalist. I'm not looking for a
Pre-Tribulational Rapture but as a Christian I am of course looking for the
Second Coming. I believe in imminency. I believe it could happen this very
moment. I would make the case that every condition has been met and in fact was
met in the first centuries of the Church.
I'm not a Premillennialist though I acknowledge it was a
popular view in the early Church. Figures like Justin Martyr made it clear that
there were other viable positions and the position I hold is in one sense the
majority position of Church history. I'm an Amillennialist, though in reality
most of Church history has been dominated by a Sacralist/Dominionist version of
Amillennialism which is really more akin to what was later called
Postmillennialism.
I'm an Amillennialist but I'm what some would derisively call
a pessimistic Amillennialist. I prefer Apocalyptic
Amillennialist. Though I don't believe Revelation 20 teaches the Kingdom is
a yet future hyper-literal 1000 year period in which Jesus physically reigns
from earthly Jerusalem I would still argue that Biblical Amillennialism shares
an ethos with Premillennialism.... something many Premillennialists of our day
have lost. We are called to separation. We are pilgrims. This world is growing
worse even when at times it may seem like it's not. There are certainly cycles
and periods of ups and downs, what we Amillennialists call progressive maturation, a concept based on Christ's harvest parable
in Matthew 13. The wheat and the tares grow together in the field... which is
the world. Some have erred in thinking this refers to the Church. But overall
this age is marked for downgrade, apostasy and conflagration. The Church will
grow and flourish but the Kingdom does not come with observation and cannot be
seen by those lacking the indwelt Spirit.
In addition to believing the world and this age are doomed,
we believe this age is also characterised by a remnant standing firm in the
face of apostasy. The apostasy also ebbs and flows but unless Christ returns, I
fear we are on the cusp of a great dark age. There are what seem to be contrary
signs and yet a closer examination of them, makes me wonder if they actually
represent good news and something to look forward to. I hope I'm wrong but I
also believe things will get very bad before the Parousia. Maybe we're close. I
certainly hope so. But then things could certainly get a lot worse than they
are at present. Some Christian thinkers and leaders do indeed envision this but
it seems their thinking is largely limited to the social and political sphere.
Wait until the social upheaval enters the Church and turns it upside down. I'm
not just speaking of Liberals vs. Conservatives, a battle that is now over a
century old. No, I think Conservative churches will be divided over questions
of violence, warfare and vigilantism. I think it could get very ugly. It
certainly has at times in Church history.
Of course for all the evil harbingers on the horizon, there's
always hope. The Spirit can work mightily in such circumstances. Even while
things seem to be at their worst, God can work mightily and raise up a new
movement rooted in His Word.
I monitor these stories and think about these things. On the
hand, you could look at Jeff Bezos and say 'who cares?' and you would be right
to do so. Bezos doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. He's just a sign,
a signal of the times in which we live and a hint of what's coming.
It won't be like in the movies. It will be far more sinister
and confusing. The evil they will bring on society will certainly invade the
Church, especially the Church that is already thinking in worldly terms. We are
being pushed toward a new order, one that will be hostile to Christians and one
that will tear the Church apart. Brother will turn against brother and your
worst enemies might be those of your own household.
*Every facet of the bureaucracy has one basic goal...
perpetuation. This is accomplished through revenue acquisition and
legitimisation based on growth. How's that for bureaucratic lingo? My all time
favorite is 'co-ordinate and provide services'. What does that actually mean?
Good luck finding out. You'll have to resort to torture to get a bureaucrat to
tell you what they actually do in vernacular terms.
How does the bureaucracy perpetuate? It must be fed with
money. Its continued focus is on the budget. The money must be used up or the
budget will be cut. The lower levels of bureaucracy must labour to demonstrate
not only their worth but that they are essential and need more tools to
accomplish their goals and mandates.
If your life is inconvenienced or even destroyed in the
process, you can be assured that the cold heart of the bureaucrat knows no
pity. Empathy and pity mean risking your annual 2% raise, added sick days, the
new lunch room and maybe your pension. No chance.