Obama Proposes $3.9 Billion Initiative To Put Driverless Cars On American Roads

This article was originally published in Technocracy News President Obama intends to set in motion a ten-year, $3.9 billion plan to put driverless cars on the highways of America. Although the plan will likely require congressional approval, it is unlikely that there will be much resistance to it because it offers Pollyanna-ish goals of reducing road deaths and travel delays. Of course, it will start a windfall for auto companies who will be obliged to replace virtually every car currently on U.S. roads.

The Administration will also provide the testing facilities to bring various auto makers together to flesh out technology that allows “connected vehicles” to talk to one another as they roll down the road, ostensibly to avoid crashing into each other. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said last week, “Automated vehicles open up opportunities for saving time, saving lives and saving fuel… we are bullish on automated vehicles.” There is no evidence that the “we” he speaks of actually includes any actual American drivers or car owners. Who is driving this boondoggle? Look no further than Google (via their super-corporation, Alphabet) and Tesla Motors. Both are already heavily invested in driverless technology and both have buckets of money to spend lobbying the government for wheelbarrows of more money. Of course, it helps to open doors when the Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, is also a member of the elitist Trilateral Commission. One of the main drivers for Google is perfecting the “connected automobile”. Every car will be equipped with an always-on wifi technology that will allow occupants to stay on their laptops, tablets and smart phones while the car’s AI program sails them down the road to their destination. The connected auto is also a major step in fleshing out the ubiquitous Internet of Things where devices are interconnected with each other for real-time interaction. Imagine zooming down the road with your iPhone in your hand and a message pops up that a friend just passed you going in the other direction. Siri announces,

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“John, it’s lunch time and your favorite restaurant is only 2 miles away from your current location and you just passed your friend Mary in the other direction. Would you like to send a lunch invitation to her? If she accepts, I can make the reservation and re-route both of you to meet at the restaurant in about 4 minutes.”

Pretty cool, huh? Well, here is a darker scenario: A warrant for your arrest was issued earlier in the morning for failing to pay a parking ticket on time. The electronic notice was spread automatically to your microcosm of the Internet of Things, which includes your car. Again, Siri speaks,

“John, your car has just received notice that a warrant for your arrest was issued this morning because you failed to pay that parking ticket you got last month in Fresno and the deadline for payment was last Thursday. There is a highway patrolman 3.5 miles ahead who has already issued an instruction to pull your car over in order to resolve the issue with you.”

The fact is, you will be tracked and recorded everywhere you go. Nothing will be private and everything you do (or try to do) will be micro-managed and controlled. Welcome to the Technocracy, which was defined as early as 1938 as “the science of social engineering, the scientific operation of the entire social mechanism to produce and distribute goods and services to the entire population.” Perfect efficiency, controlled by science, technology and droves of unaccountable technocrats who believe they know better how to structure your life than you do. They will protect you, they say. Make life easier for you, they say. All you have to do is quit whining and submit to the “system.” You can’t beat the system, they say. Resistance is futile. In short, technocrats are creating the future they want. But is it the future you want? Just in the last 7 years since Obama has been President, technocrats have dipped into the public purse to fund major initiatives like the solar and wind technology (a huge bust) and Smart Grid. Those billions were not requested by citizens because there was virtually zero public demand for smart meters or solar panels and wind turbines. Likewise, Obama’s current $3.9 billion for driverless cars is not driven by any meaningful consumer demand, but only by unelected and unaccountable technocrats. It’s time to say, “No more!”