Comments by "Itinerant Patriot" (@itinerantpatriot1196) on "Why Do We Put So Much Power In The Hands Of Shallow People? Thomas Sowell" video.

  1. Arbitrary abuse of power isn't restricted to civilian life. When I was in the military a buddy of mine applied for a job that required a top-secret security clearance. One night he showed up for work and was told he had to turn in his flight line badge and was being reassigned to a desk job. He asked why but nobody gave him a reason outside of just turn in your badge. Turns out one of the investigators doing the background check on him spoke with a neighbor of his who said my friend had wild parties where dope was smoked and worse. They yanked his security clearance for that and questioned everyone who spent off-duty time with him, including me. The weenie who interviewed me asked me if I had ever seen my friend smoke weed. I said no then the guy starts asking me how I could be so sure? How is it I know what weed smells like? I saw where this fishing expedition was going and told him I was finished answering his questions. He told me to sit my ass back down unless I wanted trouble. I told him I would sit my ass back down if he read me my rights and there was a witness in the room for the rest of the questioning. He grumbled something and I left. My friend's clearance was held back for close to six months, until someone finally told him who had made the charge against him that was causing all the trouble. He explained to them that the guy was bonkers, certifiably off his rocker. He used to yell at the sky, argue with everyone who lived nearby, would wear a diaper on his head when the mood hit him, and would put up homemade signs along the road from time-to-time, protesting everything from his girlfriend to the police who he claimed were harassing him 24/7. It took a different investigator about half an hour to confirm my friends claim and since the crazy guy was the only one who had said anything negative about him his secret security clearance was reinstated and he was told they would move forward with his top-secret investigation since he was once again eligible for the job he had applied for. He told em to get bent and got out a couple months later. Why they didn't tell him sooner about the charge against him is anybody's guess. Why they didn't bother to check out the background of the guy making the claim? Laziness I suppose. Why that jerk-weed tried to lean on me and why they kept my buddy in limbo for so long? Sheer arrogance. I don't go in much for absolutes but when you give small people too much power they will always abuse it. So why are they given that power? Connections, ability to BS the right person, institutional laziness, nepotism, pick your poison. That wasn't the only time I saw that particular investigative service run amok. Later, when I was training recruits fresh out of basic, I used to caution them to never let those guys get too friendly with them during any interview, whether they were the focus of the investigation or not. People with zero accountability who don't give two damns about the downstream consequences of their actions and could care even less about how it affects people at an individual level are legion, in the public and private sectors. And they are responsible for the vast majority of misery the average Joe and Jane have to deal with. The thing is, you don't know who they are or how they do it. Welcome to transparency, 21st Century style.
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