Joshua Hampson for the Niskanen Center: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” The phrase is well known. Yet the implication of forces outside our control impelling us to be creative is not popular or comfortable. But when it does happen, the results can be paradigm-shifting. The world has been changed by people needing to be creative under pressure. For the Department of Defense, growing risks and budgetary constraints are producing just such pressure. For the next shift in tactics, strategy and systems, the Defense Department needs to be allowed, and to allow itself, creativity. Otherwise, it will revert to stale solutions that cannot solve the problems it faces.
Under current pressures, the U.S. military is already having to make adjustments. Budget constraints for the Army have forced it to reconsider its helicopter procurements, upgrades and strategies. This has translated into the rebuilding of the Army’s heavy attack reconnaissance squadrons. The new squadrons will mix the manned (Apache helicopters) systems with unmanned (Grey Eagle drones) systems — a first for the U.S. military. There is still budgetary math to work out, but the Army will be reducing the number of Blackhawks it operates to offset the costs.
While the capabilities of these manned-unmanned squadrons is yet to be determined, the integration of the two types of weapons systems is a prime example of creativity in action.
Internet of no privacy
Steven Titch for the R Street Institute: I’ve supported the right of private-sector companies to collect personal information on individuals who voluntarily agree to disclose it. Whether it was Google, Facebook, Amazon or the local brick-and-mortar supermarket, it was my choice to tell a third party more about myself in exchange for better prices, better service or more convenience. My answer to those who raised privacy concerns was to note there was always the choice to opt out of those services.
But opting out isn’t easy anymore. In many areas of private-sector commerce — such as banking, air travel and healthcare — the government now requires private-sector companies to collect certain personal information. Dealing directly with the government usually requires it, too. Other times, the government just takes it, as with the National Security Agency’s warrantless bulk-data collection under the Patriot Act.
Beyond that, we are nearing a point where sharing of all manner of personal data will be necessary to accomplish the tasks of everyday life. All that data are stored in third-party servers, in the figurative Internet cloud. With each new technology cycle, that data becomes easier and cheaper to find, search, cross-reference and analyze. At the same time, the line separating data collected by industry and data collected by the government has been blurred, if not erased altogether …
For example, if the Department of Housing and Urban Development gets its way and bans smoking in public housing, will the surveillance cameras that are supposed to be keeping residents safe be used to see who is buying cigarettes at the local bodega and taking them home? Will analytics kick in and dispatch an officer to come knocking and catch the resident puffing, simply for the chance to write a citation and collect a fine?
The so-called Internet of Things really kicks things up a notch … We aren’t quite to the point where, just as you leave your office, your refrigerator can prepare a shopping list and send it to your phone, which can then link to Google Maps to find the nearest grocery store, then link to another app and generate an electronic coupon for your favorite brand. But very soon, you’ll be able to buy a refrigerator with an interior camera that you can access on your smartphone to see if you’re short on milk or beer.
No fun in Australia
Michelle Minton for the Competitive Enterprise Institute: American city officials, take note: Sometimes the remedy to a purported problem is worse than the disease. This is a lesson fans of Sydney’s once vibrant nightlife are beginning to learn. After the punching deaths of two teenagers and immense public outcry, officials sought to address the issue of drug and alcohol-fueled violence by banning takeaway alcohol after 10 p.m. throughout New South Wales and creating “CBD Entertainment Precincts.”
Bars, clubs and music venues within these zones would, among other things, be forced to turn away new patrons after 1:30 a.m. and stop serving alcohol after 3 a.m. Prior to implementation of these “lockout laws,” venue owners warned that it would devastate the area’s social scene and even force many of them to go out of business. It turns out this wasn’t just reactionary hyperbole …
Venues that were once staples of the city are now closing their doors, not just for the 3 a.m. lockout, but permanently. Notable losses include the “swankiest” bar in Sydney, Hugo’s Lounge, which took the prize of best pizza shop in Australia at the National Restaurant and Catering Awards and was deemed “the World’s Best Pizza” at the American Pizza Challenge in New York. Hugo’s closed down last summer with the owner blaming the restrictive rules. Manager Dave Evans noted that “stringent conditions … crippled our business [and] we have seen turnover drop in [the Kings Cross area] by 60 percent.”
By some accounts, assaults are down 40 percent in the city. But that might not be worth the price for many lamenting the loss of their city’s nightlife.
Compiled by Joseph Lawler from reports published by the various think tanks.
