The Pilgrim Underground: The Lost Battle to Oppose the Surveillance State (2001-2016)

29 September 2026

The Lost Battle to Oppose the Surveillance State (2001-2016)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/20/the-origins-of-anonymous-and-the-private-intelligence-complex-w-barrett-brown/

I found this interview with Barrett Brown somewhat entertaining as it took me back more than a decade to that period in time when Wikileaks was shaking the corridors of power, and revelations were made regarding state surveillance and the degree of illegality, cover-up, and government take-over of society's data. The culture of lies was at its height as Washington attempted to cover up its crimes and deceptions connected to the farcical War on Terror.

The Bush administration ended in utter disaster, leading to the election of Barack Obama - a perceived pendulum swing if ever there was one. For a moment, some hoped genuine change would come (as he promised) with regard to the wars and foreign policy, only to discover he would expand the war and things would take an especially twisted turn as his administration aggressively pursued activists, hacktivists, whistleblowers, and other dissidents. We were now in the era of drone assassinations and geopolitics and media coverage entered the Twilight Zone with the Arab Spring and the new wars and proxy wars in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine - in addition to new chapters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond.

Obama tried (but failed) to Pivot to Asia by means of new alliances (with some success) and with huge trade deals to counter Chinese influence, which then failed and were destroyed by Trump. This would be the same Trump who had to back down with regard to tariffs when Xi started to deny rare earths to US manufacturing. And so while Trump talks tough with regard to China, when he's face to face with Xi, he's almost sycophantic.

It was also a period in which new media outlets arose and alternative outlets and new platforms also became prevalent as well as several high-profile hacks (such as Stratfor). 2012's The Bourne Legacy and the 2016 Jason Bourne film also expressed some of the cynicism of the time - the ideological focus of the post-9/11 moment had been lost. Another film that captured the mood was A Most Wanted Man (2014), a le Carre adaptation set in the context of Germany's War on Terror and the role played by the Americans in connection to it.

By 2012 Julian Assange was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London - where he would remain until his 2019 arrest. He would not be free again until 2024. To the horror of the intelligence agencies (and their wider networks) in 2013 Edward Snowden leaked tremendous amounts of information concerning surveillance programmes, operations, and the way government was using technology to spy on all of us and collect our data.

The period came to end with the rise of Trump and the crisis he engendered. Some outlets believed Trump had to be opposed at all costs and were willing to collaborate with the DNC in order to oppose him in the larger electorate. Other more principled actors refused and continued to report and assail figures like Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden right alongside their criticism of Trump and his movement.

The divisions were pronounced and sometimes fierce - and then came Covid. That was when everything was utterly shattered as the already existing factions once again divided and turned on one another. Libertarians had a very different take than those who were more Left-leaning. Notions of 'rights' came into conflict with speech, the nature of public health policy, and there were lies and disinformation everywhere.

The disinformation surrounding Covid led to a wider scepticism regarding any journalism that questioned Establishment narratives and many people (myself included) became orphans yet again, unable to find any kind of home in terms of media or information. Even once reliable networks such Al Jazeera English (after the Al Jazeera America debacle and coverage shift) became less so. The battle was utterly lost. And now today, more and more news options are being cut off by paywalls.

Since then it seems like the world of whistleblowing and alternative media have existed in a fog. This was only made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - another dividing point.

And ironically the Snowden revelations ended up falling flat. In 2013 the Smartphone was still a relative novelty. For the first time that year ownership crossed the 50% threshold in terms of the overall US population. Today it's over 90% and 97% among those under 50. Between Smartphone addiction and Social Media, most Americans just simply didn't care about surveillance. They willingly hand their data over to companies who in turn make it available to the state - or the state simply takes it. And yet (hopefully) there are signs of some resistance with regard to Flock Cameras and fears of AI - we shall see. I think it's probably way too late. If some token measures are taken by the state, it will be akin to what happened with TIA (Total Information Awareness) under Bush. The programme was dropped due to public protest but then simply fragmented and re-implemented under different nomenclature. The public was pacified and the state continued pursuing its agenda.

At that time the data collection was said to be too vast to often be of any real utility. It couldn't be processed. But now with AI, those dynamics are changing and Snowden's warnings from 2013 are likely to become far more relevant. People couldn't see it at the time and now it's too late. That ship has sailed as most people cannot conceive of life apart from a Smartphone and life without one is becoming increasingly a challenge - a point I can attest to personally as I don't own one. In the past year I've started encountering places in cities where in order to park you must have a Smartphone app. There's no meter to feed, no kiosk to punch in your plate number and pay by cash or card. You have to get the app. For me that means I find some place else to park.

And thus with the rise of AI, the twists and turns seem to be intensifying with battle lines being drawn over more fundamental issues such as the nature of humanity and the role of technology. It seems like Western society (and indeed the world) is careening toward something - certainly toward something more authoritarian. It seems inevitable given limited resources, population growth, and the threat posed by up to the minute global news coverage and social media. The Brown interview touches on the latter and how these platforms have been repeatedly manipulated by the powers that be.

Again, I continue to argue the only hope one has of navigating the media landscape is to be well read (as in history) and to read and consume media widely. Only then will you be able to identify problems and shortcomings in news coverage, not to mention the slant, misinformation and increasingly overt episodes of disinformation. I'm afraid in my experience the Christian news and information outlets are among the worst and least trustworthy in this regard. Many are undoubtedly corrupt - I don't mean just mistaken or misled. There's plenty of that to be sure but I've also come to believe that many are just plain old dirty. They think they are justified in that they're serving the greater cause but they have deceived themselves and play an active part in deceiving their audiences. And they will answer for it.

I can understand the apprehension that so many feel. I too am burdened but in a different way. I know all is playing out according to God's plan but given I don't know what that plan is (apart from the Second Coming), what the near future will bring is the source of not so much apprehension but indeed a bit of angst. I want to be faithful and I have deep concern regarding the Church and where it is headed. I speak of the American Church specifically, the Western Church in broader terms, and the worldwide Church given the powerful influence of American ideas and models, as well as the dominance of Charismatic theology. And as my children are now adults I think about them and the families they will hopefully have some day.

And so I really have nothing in common with someone like Barrett Brown. He's a lost person trying to make sense of the world and do something - even if he can't really explain to what end, let alone why. The fact that he has struggled with drug abuse is hardly a surprise to me. Sometimes the dumb and unimaginative turn to such things. Others feel deeply and cannot deal with the consequences. Others both know a great deal and are profoundly affected by what they know - and it nearly drives them mad. I think Brown belongs to the latter group.

If I wasn't a Christian I would certainly turn radical. It's the only thing that would make sense to me. And yet by God's grace I am a believer in Christ and trust in His person and resurrection. And so I must live my life accordingly. I count it both a sad a troubling thing that I would find myself more empathetic to someone like Brown than I do the professing Christians who have aligned themselves with the sword and coin institutions of the Establishment. The Zealots were utterly wrong but I feel more for them than I do the Romans let alone the Jews who gave themselves over to Rome and made peace with Hellenistic culture.

The Pilgrim Underground

29 September 2026

The Lost Battle to Oppose the Surveillance State (2001-2016)

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