National+Security+State

=National Security State=

The National Security Act of 1947 placed the military at the top of the the societal pyramid of power in the United States, and thus for numerous other first nations that followed much the same society model. The level of secrecy that exists with regards to the accessibility of information that the public should be able to view is reinforced with the reference of this act. The Pentagon, CIA and the State Department are three examples of the massive storehouses of information, and it is this concealing of information that limits the reach of knowledge and spread of informated technologies in the 21st century.



The rise of corporate power and the lack of government authority over important sectors of political, national, social and economic life has come about and helped the National Security State. The power exerted by large, privatized enterprises reaches across both national and international boundaries that influence and direct the flow of messages that top officials pick and choose to reveal.

Since the end of World War II, and now more recently after September 11th and the introduction of the Patriot Act, the effect on American society is one of a severely restricted flow of knowledge and information. The military is more present as a driving policital force with enough power behind it to lead the direction of an entire nation - i.e. the War in Iraq, or the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. As the military is believed to be the highest authority politically, it is also one of the most powerful economic forces. The issue of surveillance has become a key issue in dealing with the observation of declassified materials and has helped in bringing about the declassification of such materials on a wide scale.