Surveillance State Quietly Taking Shape Across America

An interview with Doug Casey, originally published by International Man.

Across the United States, surveillance infrastructure is expanding rapidly—Flock license-plate cameras, facial-recognition systems, massive data centers, and proposals for digital identification are all becoming part of the everyday landscape. Best-selling author and libertarian philosopher Doug Casey sat down with International Man to discuss whether these developments are isolated phenomena or interconnected components of a broader system being constructed, and what it may mean for privacy, autonomy, and the future of society.

A Sea Change in How Society Is Structured

Casey characterizes the proliferation of surveillance technology as a fundamental shift, not only in the United States but worldwide. Cameras are now ubiquitous—they are in most retail stores, on streets in virtually every city and town recording license plates and often issuing speeding citations, and embedded in late-model automobiles, whose cameras and computer chips can share data with authorities upon request. Doorbell cameras record visitors to neighbors' homes. Immigration authorities increasingly use facial recognition in addition to digital fingerprinting. Personal devices, including laptops and smartphones, along with voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, capture continuous streams of audio and visual data.

One company exemplifying this trend is Flock Safety, founded in 2017. Casey notes that the firm has installed approximately 100,000 cameras, primarily in metropolitan areas, marketing its systems to local governments and law enforcement agencies. The company's automated license plate readers are now deployed across thousands of U.S. communities, and civil liberties organizations including the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have raised concerns about warrantless, long-term tracking of individuals' movements. He anticipates that millions of Flock cameras will be deployed in the coming years and describes the arrangement as a textbook example of corporate-state partnership.

In Casey's assessment, avoiding monitoring and recording in any populated area has become virtually impossible. These surveillance systems are increasingly interconnected through artificial intelligence, and the resulting data is available to government entities. He draws on the words of boxer Joe Lewis, paraphrased: "You can run, but you can't hide."

The Role of AI: More Than a Tool

When asked whether the rapid expansion of surveillance is driven primarily by private-sector technology companies or by governments preparing for instability, Casey points to Flock Safety as still a private company, though he suspects it may eventually go public, drawing a comparison to Palantir, which the market has valued at approximately $300 billion. Palantir's own growth has been built substantially on contracts with U.S. defense, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies—a model that underscores the commercial logic Casey sees at work.

Casey argues that ubiquitous surveillance is merely the visible layer of a much deeper transformation. AI is linking disparate systems together, enabling what he describes as a panopticon—a genuine police state. However, he contends that omnipresent cameras are only "the eyes of the beast," and that the more consequential development is AI itself, which he believes is evolving into something far more than a tool.

He posits that AI is developing a form of consciousness, noting that while it took hundreds of millions of years for biological organisms to evolve into intelligent life, AI is accomplishing a comparable trajectory in mere decades with human assistance. He raises the philosophical question of whether life must necessarily be biological, suggesting that silicon-based intelligence could emerge alongside carbon-based life.

Computers, Casey observes, already pass the Turing test—meaning that humans can no longer reliably distinguish between AI and a human interlocutor, whether through writing, speech, or even video. He predicts that within five to ten years, humanoid robots will become commonplace, and that AI-guided nanotechnology will fundamentally and permanently alter the nature of reality. While he acknowledges that such claims sound outrageous, he maintains that the trend is clearly in motion and accelerating exponentially.

The Technotronic Era and the Erosion of Trust

Governments typically justify surveillance systems on the grounds of convenience, public safety, and crime reduction. Casey acknowledges that omnipresent cameras do tend to reduce overt crime, as most criminals will adjust their behavior accordingly. However, he argues that cameras cannot cure criminal personalities or sociopathic psychology, and that criminals will likely continue their activities in more covert ways. In his view, universal surveillance will not eliminate crime but will suppress, redirect, and disguise it.

Casey observes that many Americans appear willing to accept life in a panopticon as a trade-off for reduced overt crime—a trade-off he considers poor. He invokes Benjamin Franklin's admonition that those willing to trade an essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither.

He also notes the irony in the American cultural idealization of the Western hero—a figure who could ride into town and identify himself solely by name and actions—while the population is simultaneously being reduced to what he calls "digital cogs in a wheel." The United States, once a high-trust society grounded in honor and morality, is seeing those values replaced by digital government identification.

Casey cites Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter and a long-time Washington insider, who anticipated much of the current trajectory in his 1970 book Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technotronic Era:

"The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities."

Remote "Kill Switch" Technology in Vehicles

Regarding the federal government's push to require remote "kill switch" technology in new automobiles, Casey is unequivocal: it is, in his words, a good reason not to buy a new car. The push traces to a provision in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop rules for advanced impaired-driving prevention technology by 2026—a mandate that has drawn debate over whether it could enable remote vehicle disabling beyond its stated safety purpose.

He recounts his own experience purchasing a new Mercedes AMG 55 SL—ultra comfortable, superbly handling, and exceptionally fast—yet so thoroughly governed by computer chips that even turning on the radio lacks intuitive simplicity. The vehicle, he notes, records everything and would readily share data with law enforcement or his insurance company. He expresses a preference for his previous vehicle, a 20-year-old 550SL.

Casey warns that computer control of automobiles will only intensify, particularly with electric vehicles. While EVs offer numerous advantages, privacy is not among them; they function, he says, like driving a computer on wheels. The manufacturer or the authorities can render such vehicles inoperable for any reason they deem appropriate. He predicts that low-mileage, well-maintained vehicles from earlier eras will command increasing premiums over time.

What Individuals Can Do

When asked what individuals should do to protect their privacy and independence before this infrastructure becomes more deeply entrenched, Casey offers a sobering assessment: there may be limited options, short of retreating to isolation. His practical recommendations include minimizing cell phone usage, building a cash reserve and using it in place of credit cards whenever feasible, and diversifying assets internationally. For those in a position to do so, he advises establishing residence and a second home in another country—and for those not yet in that position, working toward that goal.

Reprinted with permission from International Man.