“Worker Corps to Report Odd Activity” by Adam Crymer is on page A16 of the New York Times this morning. This is a reappearance of an idea that lurks beneath the surface of how we do things and think.  It is a bad idea. In desperation for want of sound ideas to improve our society the Bush Administration’s Chief of Generals, John Ashcroft, wants to have a “snitch” corps or behavior police established.  If “odd” behavior in some people who live near you catches your eye or the “Worker Corps” employee you report to, they will snatch those people up and deport them forthwith.

This is reminiscent of the concierge in European hotels apartment buildings who knew everything about everybody who lived in his or her building. The block captain or the ward leader in tightly controlled election districts provided the same service.  Then there was the appointed thought and behavior police everywhere who pounced on a deviate who was too provocative. The totalitarian regimes from before the time of Byzantium through the Napoleonic Empire and down to the Fascists and Nazis in Europe to the Communist empire of Soviet Russia and the Maoist version in China all required such police who sometimes wore uniforms and other times looked a lot like you or me.

We forget.  We do not remember what history tells us.  We learn about the Generals and the wars they fought and the battles they lost.  We are told about the brave and valorous men on horseback who are memorialized in statues scattered about the cities of old countries.  We don’t do that here anymore – or, do we?  Ashcroft has a miniscule imagination to bring back this bad old idea.

Please check the story by Michelle Kayal “The Societal Costs of Surveillance” on page A 21 of the New York Times for a timely reminder of the perils of this bad old idea.

The Bush Administration turns to war to occupy our minds and divert our attention to growing scandals.  The Republicans cannot govern this country any better than the bad old Democrats. Its ineptitude in overseeing the finances of this country may not be helped because no one can control greed. It also should not create a system that will not secure peace nor filter out bad people who wish to do us harm.

Just as the poor are always with us (even the newly impoverished because of their trust in the Stock Market and in the forces which the rich control) enemies can cross borders as the Israeli experience shows dramatically.  Human murderers with bombs strapped on them blowing up innocents are no different from the murderers who hijacked airplanes and flew them into buildings killing thousands of innocents. You can arm the pilots and can try to keep them out but you should not use the bad old idea of thought control and behavior police. We deserve betters ideas and a better Attorney General.