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For the state, there is one primary imperative — to remain in power at all cost. If this imperative is to be successful, the state must impose, by stealth or deception, a system capable of monitoring all individuals who may pose an immediate or future threat to its dominance.
The COVID-19 "crisis," produced either deliberately or by an act of nature, provides the state with a nearly airtight pretext for the imposition of further surveillance of the public, in particular political adversaries.
The largely manufactured "war on terror" following the attacks of 9/11 produced the needed climate of suspicion and fear to make possible the implementation of the Patriot Act, "a domestic-surveillance wish list full of investigatory powers long
sought by the FBI," an agency that has for many decades served as a
political police force, a fact made public during the Church Committee hearings in the mid-1970s.
Much of what we know about technological surveillance in the wake of 9/11 was gleaned from the revelations of Edward Snowden, a former NSA, and CIA employee. Snowden exposed a number of global surveillance programs, including PRISM and XKeyscore, the former
in partnership with Microsoft, Apple, and Google.
Comment: Spain's central bank believes its economy will dive more than 12% this year if the Covid-19 lockdown lasts eight or 12 weeks.