Observation 1 is the Mythos of the Elf in the Shelf [Re do

tag] The current view of the mythos of the Elf in the Shelf
is a current symbolic mirror to the Panopticon a form of
Government Control
Pinto and Nemorin 14
12-1-2014, "Who's the Boss?," Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives,
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/whos-boss See more at:
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/whosboss#sthash.tExoIyJJ.dpuf
When children enter the play world of The Elf on the Shelf, they accept a
series of practices and rules associated with the larger story. This, of
course, is not unique to The Elf on the Shelf. Many childrens games,
including board games and video games, require children to participate
while following a prescribed set of rules. The difference, however, is
that in other games, the child role-plays a character, or the child
imagines herself within a play-world of the game, but the role play
does not enter the childs real world as part of the game. As well, in
most games, the time of play is delineated (while the game goes on),
and the play to which the rules apply typically does not overlap with
the childs real world.
Elf on the Shelf presents a unique (and prescriptive) form of play that blurs
the distinction between play time and real life. Children who participate in

play with The Elf on the Shelf doll have to contend with rules at all
times during the day: they may not touch the doll, and they must
accept that the doll watches them at all times with the purpose of
reporting to Santa Claus. This is different from more conventional play
with dolls, where children create play-worlds born of their imagination,
moving dolls and determining interactions with other people and other
dolls. Rather, the hands-off play demanded by the elf is limited to
finding (but not touching!) The Elf on the Shelf every morning, and
acquiescing to surveillance during waking hours under the elfs watchful
eye. The Elf on the Shelf controls all parameters of play, who can do and

touch what, and ultimately attempts to dictate the childs behavior

outside of time used for play.
The gaze of the elf on the childs real world (as opposed to play world)
resonates with the purpose of the panopticon, based on Jeremy Benthams
18th century design for a model prison (a central tower in a circular
structure, surrounded by cells). Backlighting in the central tower made
it impossible for prisoners to discern whether or not they were being
watched. Michel Foucault (1979) saw the panopticon as a perfect
symbol of modern surveillance societies: a metaphor for discipline
operating through a variety of social and institutional apparatuses that leave

the individual on guard, never certain if she is actually being watched, but
knowing structures are in place to monitor her movements at all times.

Through the normalization of surveillance the current

viewpoint on surveillance perpetuated by the mythos of
the Elf in the Shelf prevents real change from happening
to the surveillance state
Steven Petrow 14, 12-16-2014, "The Elf on the Shelf is preparing
your child to live in a future police state, professor warns," Washington
Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-andentertainment/wp/2014/12/16/the-elf-on-the-shelf-is-preparing-yourchild-to-live-in-a-future-police-state-professor-says/
For some, the Elf on the Shelf doll, with its doe-eyed gaze and cherubic
face, has become a whimsical holiday tradition one that helpfully
reminds children to stay out of trouble in the lead-up to Christmas. For
others like, say, digital technology professor Laura Pinto the Elf on
the Shelf is a capillary form of power that normalizes the voluntary surrender
of privacy, teaching young people to blindly accept panoptic surveillance
and [deep breath] reify hegemonic power. I mean, obvs, right? The

latter perspective is detailed in Whos the Boss, a paper published by

the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in which Pinto and coauthor Selena Nemorin argue that the popular seasonal doll is preparing a
generation of children to uncritically accept increasingly intrusive (albeit
whimsically packaged) modes of surveillance. Before you burst out
laughing, know that Pinto comes across as extremely friendly and not
at all paranoid on the phone. Shes also completely serious. The Elf on
the Shelf is both a book and a doll. The former is a soft pixie scout elf
that parents are instructed to hide around the house. The
accompanying book, written in rhyme, tells a Christmas-themed story
that explains how Santa Claus keeps tabs on who is naughty and who
is nice. The book describes elves hiding in childrens homes each day
during the holidays to monitor their behavior before returning to the
North Pole each night with a report for the boss. Because we live in a
world grappling with corporate smartphone surveillance,behavior
management apps in the classroom and private communication
interceptions by various governments, Pinto a digital technology
professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology sees
the Elf on the Shelf dolls as one development among many threatening our
collective definition of privacy. If shes right, in all likelihood shes fighting

a losing battle. The Elf on the Shelf book sold over 6 million copies and
joined the Macys Thanksgiving parade last year, according to the Daily
Mail. I dont think the elf is a conspiracy and I realize were talking
about a toy, Pinto told The Post. It sounds humorous, but we argue
that if a kid is okay with this bureaucratic elf spying on them in their home, it
normalizes the idea of surveillance and in the future restrictions on
our privacy might be more easily accepted.

1AC Santopticon
Observation 2 is the Santopticon The Elf in the Shelf
represents the larger Santopticon which parallels the
surveillance state in which we behave because we do not
know when we are being watched
Derek Nystrom 10 Become A Fan, 11-26-2010, "Santa,
Deconstructed," Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dereknystrom/santa-deconstructed_b_788541.html
As we all know, Santa is an effective tool for making small children behave .
During the Christmas season, you can get the kids to settle down by
reminding them that Santa does not give presents to bad children. And
remember, we tell them, Santa canalways see you. As the song goes,
"He knows when you've been sleeping/ He knows when you're awake/
He knows when you've been bad or good/ So be good for goodness
sakes." In other words, we tell kids, you have to behave yourself all the
time, even when the adults aren't around.
According to the French poststructuralist theorist Michel Foucault, this is
how modern societies train all of their subjects. Foucault argued that many
modern institutions are structured, either metaphorically or literally, like
the "panopticon" described by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham in his
model of a humane prison. This prison is one in which prisoners are put
into circles of cells which have as their center a guard tower. The guard
in the tower can see into the prisoners' cells, but the prisoners cannot
see into the guard tower. Since they can therefore never know when
they are being watched, the prisoners must behave as if they
are always being watched -- which in turn means that they come to
discipline themselves. For Foucault, the panopticon is a model for the
various ways we internalize social norms by acting (and even thinking) like an
authority figure is watching us, even when one isn't. We act as prison guards
over ourselves.

The Elf in the Shelf is a symbolic representation of the

gaze of the Santopticon which parallels and mimics the
Panoptic surveillance state in which surveillance is used
as a tool to allow the government to control us
Kelly J. Baker 13, 12-18-2013, "The Creepy Surveillance of Elf on a
Shelf," Religion Dispatches, http://religiondispatches.org/the-creepysurveillance-of-elf-on-a-shelf/
I need to be good because of the elf that lives my room , my five-year old
explained.
The what? Who lives where? I ask.
The elf that knows if Im bad or good, she replies.
There is no elf in your room, I say.
Yes, there is. Hes invisible, she notes.
I sigh wearily.

I lost this argument, much like other Christmas-related debates in our

household. When I told her that Santa cant fulfill every gift on her list,
she declared that hes magic as if that explained all. (For the record, I
didnt introduce her to Santa, but everyone around us did. His twinkling
eyes and red suit are completely unavoidable.) While I have mostly
come to terms with her affectionate attachment to Santa, the elf added
a new wrinkle to Santas involvement in our family life. Her imaginary
elf is a version of The Elf on the Shelf , an androgynous, rosy-cheeked
elf toy that monitors children as Christmas approaches. It is available in
light or dark-skinned varieties. Accessories allow families to transform
the elf into a boy or girl. The elf emerged from The Elf on the Shelf: A
Christmas Tradition co-authored by mother and daughter, Carol
Aebersold and Chanda Bell. The book alone has sold over six million
copies since it was released in 2005. For $29.95, parents can purchase
the book and toy to start a new tradition. The story presents a scout
elf, who journeyed all the way from the North Pole to watch children to
find out whether they are naughty or nice. The elf surveils children during
the day to uncover bad behavior, then it returns to the North Pole every night
to report back to jolly old St. Nick. There are two rules that govern

childrens interaction with their elf. First, the elf is magic, and a childs
touch can compromise its ability to return and report. Its enchantment
disappears if a child touches it for any reason. Second, the elf cannot
interact with children during the day because its role is to observe and
listen. The creators, however, encourage children to talk to their elves
especially to share secrets. The elf can learn more about the
children, the more they share. Telling the elf secrets seems to secure a
space on the nice list. These elves are ubiquitous. They can be
purchased from bookstores, Target, and online retailers. Tutus can
create girl elves, and sports jerseys can masculinize the boy elves.
Parents move elves around their homes, so that the elf is a different
spot every morning. Some parents elaborately stage elves making
mischief with marshmallow fights and flour snow angels. Facebook
photos of Santas helpers abound as parents document how scout
elves act when left to their own devices. The elves do not remain on
their shelves for long. We do not own an elf, despite my daughters
beseeching requests. Her friends have elves in their homes. Her
preschool class has multiple elves on a bookshelf that her teacher uses
to encourage good behavior. The elves are watching whether I approve
or not. It should be surprising that The Elf on the Shelf fascinates and
repels me. The phenomenon piques my interest because the elves
provide material evidence of Santas reality. Watching from their
shelves in homes, they confirm that Santa exists. Their materiality
makes his magic plausible. Writing on Santa, Nathan Schneider argues
that the holiday spirit is mostly based on the irrelevance of proof.
Evidence does not matter because Santa. Adults all know that Santa
does not exist, yet lying to children about him is cultural expectation.

Try explaining to someone, anyone really, that you want to opt of St.
Nick for your kids. To put it mildly, it does not go over well. (I might
have been accused of child abuse.) There is no proof of his existence
because he doesnt exist. The fevered attempts of adults make
him real. Parents encourage children to write letters to Santa. At malls
and shopping centers, girls and boys sit on his lap and tell him all the
things that they want. Apps show the existence of elves in your house
as proof of the Kris Kringle. Googles Santa Tracker allows families to
follow his global journey with reindeer and sleigh. And now, elves serve
as narcs. These practices bolster and foster the belief in Santas reality.
We need them to convince children and ourselves that the world can
still be magical, if only for one night. Belief persists in a known lie. The
Elf of the Shelf troubles me. It seems a bit nefarious in light of the
revelations about the NSAs domestic surveillance program. Somebody is
surely watching us, but it is the government, not Santa. Santa and elves fit
into our current moment of surveillance and data mining. The classic song
Santa Claus is Coming to Town illustrates how. Santa is an omnipresent
figure who watches children both day and night. He knows when you are
sleeping/He knows when youre awake . He emerges as benevolent, only

if you werent naughty. Be good, the song chides us, be good. Yet, to
be good for goodnesss sake was always already to be good just for
Christmass sake. Goodness only mattered because gifts could be in
peril. While the creepy undertone of the song might bother me, the
elves take this a step further. Families invite the elves into their homes for
the explicit purpose of monitoring children. Yes, this might ensure good
behavior between Thanksgiving and Christmas (child
psychologists worry about what happens when parents farm out
discipline to Santa). More importantly, these elves teach children that
they should expect to be watched even in their own homes.

[Play NSA is coming to town]

This form of Control is targeted towards the younger
generations allowing the control of generations of
Americans into the future
Meghan Hamilton 14 , 12-13-2014, "You Better Watch Out: Big
Brother and the Elf on the Shelf," No Publication,
http://thehumanist.com/commentary/you-better-watch-out-big-brotherand-the-elf-on-the-shelf
Since writing recently about the troubling nature of the Elf on the Shelf
tradition, Ive learned that a researcher in Canada is exploring its
dangers a bit further. For the uninitiated, the elf is a doll (based on a
book) that parents put on a shelf to act as Santas eyes and ears,
reporting to Santa on childrens behavior. Parents make the game more
believable by moving the elf around the house at night when kids are
asleep. In Whos the Boss? The Elf on the Shelf and the
Normalization of Surveillance (published by the Canadian Centre for

Policy Alternatives), Laura Pinto advises that this activity is more

harmful than fun and could create a generation of children who are
complacent when it comes to matters of government intrusion into
personal privacy. The Elf on the Shelf essentially teaches the child to
accept an external form of non-familial surveillance in the home when the elf
becomes the source of power and judgment, based on a set of rules
attributable to Santa Claus, Pinto posits, describing a little girl who

insisted her family ring the doorbell before they entered their own
home to alert the elf of their return. Pintos fear is that instead of
cultivating understanding with real people in the form of family, friends,
teachers, and so on, children who participate actively in the Elf on the Shelf
game learn to cater to an external authority and that this may lead them to
accept, not question, increasingly intrusive (albeit whimsically packaged)
modes of surveillance. This may sound like a paranoid idea, but is it? It

isnt unrealistic to think that indoctrination is most effective among

children and that anyone in a position of authority could exploit the
innocence of a childs mind to benefit themselves. Certainly children
are indoctrinated with ideas about race and gender, and, of course,
religion. Is encouraging kids to believe in a supernatural deity who
watches them and judges their behavior the same thing as the Elf on
the Shelf? Are children who believe in such a God more likely to accept
a loss of privacy? David Kyle Johnson, an associate professor of
philosophy at Kings College in Pennsylvania,agrees that the Elf on the
Shelf tradition is not good for children, and he has long argued the morality of
the idea of Santa Claus, not only because the story is a lie but because it
challenges a parents trustworthiness . In fact, some parents will go to

great lengths to make their children believe a lie for their own benefit
while completely disregarding their childrens skepticism. For
example, this mother made a fake surveillance video of the elf flying
around her childrens room while they slept to prove to her doubtful
kids that the elf was real. Johnson argues that the immorality of tools like
Santa Claus and the Elf on the Shelf teach our children that if they behave
they will receive a lavish gift that they earned simply for behaving the way
everyone is expected to. No matter if it is God, Santa, or an elf, the lies

we tell children in order to elicit obedience create gullible and

submissive adults hesitant to question or examine. Making someone
believe something that isnt real and promising rewards in order to
make them complythat is what the Elf on the Shelf is about. Replace
the word Elf with God and present with heaven and the
differences are hard to find.

1AC Normalization
Observation 3 is Normalization - The normalization of the
surveillance state results in a depoliticized populace that
embraces the panoptic gaze of authoritarianism
Giroux 14 [Henry A., Global TV Network Chair Professor at McMaster University in the
English and Cultural Studies Department and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson
University, Totalitarian Paranoia in the Post-Orwellian Surveillance State, Truthout, 10
February 2014, http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21656-totalitarian-paranoia-in-the-postorwellian-surveillance-state]
In his videotaped Christmas message, Snowden references Orwell's

warning of "the dangers of microphones,

video cameras and TVs that watch us,"2 allowing the state to regulate subjects within the most intimate spaces of
private life. But these older modes of surveillance, Snowden elaborates, however, are nothing compared to
what is used to infringe on our personal privacy today. For Snowden, the threat posed by
the new surveillance state can be measured by its reach and use of technologies that far outdate
anything Orwell envisioned and pose a much greater threat to the privacy rights of citizens and the reach of
sovereign powers. He reiterates this point by reminding his viewers that "a child born today will grow up with no
conception of privacy at all - they will never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded,

analysis fails to go far

enough in linking together the question of surveillance with the rise of
"networked societies," global flows of power and the emergence of the
totalitarian state.4
unanalyzed thought."3 Snowden is right about the danger to privacy rights but his

The democratic ideal rooted in the right to privacy under the modernist state in which Orwell lived out his political
imagination has been transformed and mutilated, almost beyond recognition. Just as Orwell's fable has morphed over
time into a combination of "realistic novel," real-life documentary and a form of reality TV, privacy has been altered
radically in an age of permanent, 'nonstop' global exchange and circulation. So, too, and in the current period of historical
amnesia, privacy

has been redefined through the material and ideological registers of a

neoliberal order in which the right to privacy has succumbed to the seductions of a
narcissistic culture and casino capitalism's unending necessity to turn every relationship into an act of commerce
and to make all aspects of daily life visible and subject to data manipulation.5 In a world devoid of care,
compassion and protection, privacy is no longer connected and resuscitated
through its connection to public life, the common good or a vulnerability born of the
recognition of the frailty of human life. In a world in which the worst excesses of capitalism are unchecked,
privacy is nurtured in a zone of historical amnesia, indifferent to its transformation
and demise under a "broad set of panoptic practices."6 Consequently, culture loses its
power as the bearer of public memory in a social order where a consumeristdriven ethic "makes impossible any shared recognition of common interests or goals"
and furthers the collective indifference to the growth of the surveillance
state.7
Surveillance has become a growing feature of daily life. In fact, it is more appropriate to analyze the
culture of surveillance, rather than address exclusively the violations committed by the corporate-surveillance state. In
this instance, the surveillance and security state is one that not only listens, watches and gathers massive amounts of
information through data mining necessary for identifying consumer populations but also acculturates the public into
accepting the intrusion of surveillance technologies and privatized commodified values into all aspects of their lives.
Personal information is willingly given over to social media and other corporate-based websites and gathered daily as
people move from one targeted web site to the next across multiple screens and digital apparatuses. As Ariel Dorfman

media users gladly give up their liberty and privacy, invariably for
the most benevolent of platitudes and reasons, all the while endlessly shopping online and texting. 7A
This collecting of information might be most evident in the video cameras that
inhabit every public space from the streets, commercial establishments
points out, social

and workplaces to the schools our children attend as well as in the myriad scanners placed at
the entry points of airports, stores, sporting events and the lik e.

The symbolic gaze of the Elf in the Shelf is a

demonstration of Government Panoptic Norm
Conformation to the Populace - because of the current
misled views of the Elves in the Shelves the populace is
comfortable with the Surveillance State and will not push
and put public pressure on legal surveillance reforms
Pinto 14
Normalizing Panoptic Surveillance Among Children: The Elf on the
Shelf (http://laurapinto.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/8/4/24842679/pintonemorin-elf-osos.pdf)
The gaze of the elf on the childs real world (as opposed to play world)
resonates with the purpose of the panopticon. Michel Foucaults (1979)
metaphor of the panopticon is based on Jeremy Benthams The handsoff play demanded by the elf is limited to finding (but not touching)
the Elf on the Shelf every morning, and acquiescing to surveillance
during waking hours under the elfs watchful eye. 56 Our Schools/Our
Selves eighteenth century design for a model prison, consisting of a
central tower in a circular structure, surrounded by cells. Backlighting
in the central tower made it impossible for prisoners to discern
whether or not they were being watched. For Foucault, the panopticon is
a perfect symbol of modern surveillance societies. He adapted the panopticon
as a metaphor for discipline operating through a variety of social and
institutional apparatuses that leave the individual on guard, never certain if
she is actually being watched, but knowing structures are in place to monitor
her movements at all times.2 As Foucault (1979) argued, in modern

society surveillance does not merely occur in the central tower, but
also from the conscious and permanent visibility (p. 201) that forces
the individual to selfmonitor her actions. This claim was illustrated by
the example of Huffington Post writer Wendy Bradford (2013) who
reported that her children insist on ringing the doorbell before entering
their home to make sure that their Elf on the Shelf doll, Chippey, is
prepared for their arrival, thus underscoring their awareness (and
acceptance) of the surveillance apparatus. Also in the Huffington Post,
Lewis (2013) reminisced about the good old days in a tongue-in
cheek blog about The Elf on the Shelf phenomenon while simultaneously
reinforcing the surveillance functions of the toy : I long for the days when
Santas helpers were mystical, magical, mysterious and unseen little
people and not some overpriced brand. But, the times they are achanging. If I must participate in this new tradition, I choose to let
the elf serve its purpose to set on a shelf and encourage my children
to be nice Parents need all the help they can get. Let your elf help
you. The childrens modified behaviour described in these two examples is

known as panoptic performativity (Perryman, 2006) in which a sense of

constantly being watched leads individuals perform compliantly to pass
inspection, not for intrinsic reasons. When engaging in play with Elf on the
Shelf doll, the children surrendered a certain degree of autonomy to the elf
based on a set of rules of conduct attributed to Santa Claus, (referred to as
the Boss in the book). The production of cultural signification for the
childs identity relies upon and is enforced by a structure of power situated
within larger social contexts. Under 57 WINTER 2015 normal

circumstances, childrens behaviour (i.e., what is naughty and what

is nice) is situated in social contexts and mediated by human beings
(peers, parents, and teachers) where the child conceptualizes actions
and emotions in relation to other people and how they feel. The object
or subject of a childs attention in play is what the child makes
meaning of (or learns about) the other (Samuelsson & Carlsson, 2008)

1AC Advocacy
Thus the Advocacy Me and Zac urge a critical
reexamination and rejection of the Elf on the Shelf mythos

1AC Solvency
Observation 4 is Solvency - The Affirmatives politics of
dissent channels progressive politics towards massive
collective struggle --- try or die for challenging the
surveillance state
Giroux 14 [Henry A., Global TV Network Chair Professor at McMaster University in the
English and Cultural Studies Department and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at
Ryerson University, Totalitarian Paranoia in the Post-Orwellian Surveillance State,
Truthout, 10 February 2014, http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21656totalitarian-paranoia-in-the-post-orwellian-surveillance-state]
Under the rubric of battling terrorism, the US government has waged a war on civil liberties, privacy and democracy while
turning a blind eye to the ways in which the police and intelligence agencies infiltrate and harass groups engaged in
peaceful protests, particularly treating those groups denouncing banking and corporate institutions as criminal
activities.73 They also have done nothing to restrict those corporate interests that turn a profit by selling arms, promoting
war and investing surveillance apparatuses addicted to the mad violence of the war industries. Unfortunately, such legal

illegalities and death-oriented policies are not an Orwellian fiction but an advancement
of the world Orwell prematurely described regarding surveillance and its integration with totalitarian
regimes. The existence of the post-Orwellian state, where subjects participate willingly and
surveillance connects to global state and corporate sovereignty, should muster
collective outrage among the American public and generate massive individual
resistance and collective struggles aimed at the development of social
movements designed to take back democracy from the corporate-political-military extremists that now control all
the commanding institutions of American society. Putting trust in a government that makes a mockery
of civil liberties is comparable to throwing away the most basic principles of our
constitutional and democratic order. As Johnathan Schell argues:
Government officials, it is true, assure us that they will never pull the edges of the net tight. They tell us that although they
could know everything about us, they won't decide to. They'll let the information sit unexamined in the electronic vaults.
But history, whether of our country or others, teaches that only

a fool would place faith in such

assurances. What one president refrains from doing the next will do; what is left
undone in peacetime is done when a crisis comes.74
History offers alternative narratives to those supported by the new authoritarians .
Dangerous counter-memories have a way of surfacing unexpectedly at times and, in doing so,
can challenge to the normalization of various forms of tyranny , including the mechanisms of a
surveillance state defined by a history of illegal and criminal behavior. As the mainstream press recently noted, the dark
shadow of Orwell's dystopian fable was so frightening in

the early 1970s that a group of young people

broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, stole as many records as possible, and leaked
them to the press. None of the group was ever caught.75 Their actions were not only deeply rooted in an era when
dissent against the Vietnam war, racism and corporate corruption was running high but also was suggestive of an era in
which the politics of fear was not a general condition of society and large groups of people were mobilizing in numerous
sites to make power accountable on a number of fronts, extending from college campuses to the shaping of foreign policy.

The 1971 burglary made clear that the FBI was engaging in illegal and criminal acts
aimed primarily against anti-war dissenters and the African-American community, which
was giving voice in some cities to the Black Power movement.
What the American people learned as a result of the leaked FBI documents was that many people were being illegally
tapped, bugged, and that anti-war groups were being infiltrated. Moreover, the leaked files revealed that the FBI was
spying on Martin Luther King Jr. and a number of other prominent politicians and activists. A couple of years later Carl

Stern, an NBC reporter, followed up on the information that had been leaked and revealed a program

called COINTELPRO, which stands for Counterintelligence Program, that documented how the FBI
and CIA not only were secretly harassing, disrupting, infiltrating and neutralizing leftist
organizations but also were attempting to assassinate those considered domestic and foreign
enemies.76 COINTELPRO was about more than spying, it was an illegally sanctioned machinery of violence and
assassination.77 In one of the most notorious cases, the FBI worked with the Chicago Police to set up the conditions for
the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, two members of the Black Panther Party. Noam Chomsky has called
COINTELPRO, which went on from the 1950s to the '70s, when it was stopped, "the worst systematic and extended
violation of basic civil rights by the federal government," and "compares with Wilson's Red Scare."78 As a result of these
revelations, Sen. Frank Church conducted Senate hearings that exposed the illegalities the FBI was engaged in and helped
to put in place polices that provided oversight to prevent such illegalities from happening again. Needless to say, over time
these oversights and restrictions were dismantled, especially after the tragic events of 9/11.

What these young people were doing in 1971 is not unlike what Snowden and other
whistle-blowers are doing today by making sure that dissent is not suppressed by
governments who believe that power should reside only in the hands of government and
financial elites and that all attempts to make authoritarian power accountable should be
repressed at almost any cost. Many of these young protesters were influenced by the ongoing struggles of the
civil rights movement and one of them, John Raines, was heavily influenced by the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who
was killed by the Nazis. What is crucial about this incident is that it not only revealed the long historical reach of
government surveillance and criminal activity designed to squash dissent, it also provides a model of civic courage by
young people who acted on their principles in a nonviolent way to stop what they considered to be machineries of civil and
social death. As Greenwald argues, COINTELPRO makes clear that governments have no2qualms about "targeting citizens
for their disfavored political views and trying to turn them into criminals through infiltration, entrapment and the like"
and that such actions are "alive and well today in the United States."79 Governments that elevate lawlessness to one of the
highest principles of social order reproduce and legitimate violence as an acceptable mode of action throughout a society.
Violence in American society has become its heartbeat and nervous system, paralyzing ideology, policy and governance, if
not the very idea of politics. Under such circumstances, the corporate and surveillance state become symptomatic of a
form of tyranny and authoritarianism that has corrupted and disavowed the ideals and reality of a substantive democracy.

Dissent is crucial to any viable notion of democracy and provides a powerful

counterforce to the dystopian imagination that has descended like a plague on American
society; but dissent is not enough. In a time of surging authoritarianism, it is crucial for everyone to
find the courage to translate critique into the building of popular
movements dedicated to making education central to any viable notion of politics.
This is a politics that does the difficult work of assembling critical formative cultures by
developing alternative media, educational organizations, cultural
apparatuses, infrastructures and new sites through which to address
the range of injustices plaguing the United States and the forces that reproduce them.
The rise of cultures of surveillance along with the defunding of public and higher education, the attack on the welfare state
and the militarization of everyday life can be addressed in ways that not only allow people to see how such issues are
interrelated to casino capitalism and the racial-security state but also what it might mean to make such issues meaningful
to make them critical and transformative. As Charlie Derber has written, "How to express possibilities and convey them
authentically and persuasively seems crucially important" if any viable notion of resistance is to take place.80

Nothing will change unless the left and progressives take seriously the subjective
underpinnings of oppression in the United States. The power of the imagination,
dissent, and the willingness to hold power accountable constitute a major
threat to authoritarian regimes. Snowden's disclosures made clear that the
authoritarian state is deeply fearful of those intellectuals, critics, journalists
and others who dare to question authority, expose the crimes of corrupt
politicians and question the carcinogenic nature of a corporate state that has hijacked
democracy: This is most evident in the insults and patriotic gore heaped on Manning and Snowden.

1AC ROTB
Observation 5 is the Role of the Ballot - The Role of the
Ballot is whoever best deconstructs the foundation for the
Current Surveillance state the only way to curtail
surveillance is to deconstruct the foundation of it or else
the surveillance state will survive all attempts of
reformation. We meet the role of the ballot by
deconstructing the mythos of the Elf on the Shelf our
Pintos evidence above states that the Elf on the Shelf is a
key part of the normalization of surveillance towards the
younger generation in an attempt to control the populace.
Our deconstruction of Surveillance is the only way to
allow legal reforms to happen without the Affirmatives
advocacy no one can hope to achieve real reform.