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/whos-
boss#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-and-
entertainment/wp/2014/12/16/the-elf-on-the-shelf-is-preparing-your-child-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 co-author 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/derek-nystrom/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-creepy-surveillance-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 elvesespecially 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-brother-and-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 comply
that 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-post-orwellian-
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,
unanalyzed thought."3 Snowden is right about the danger to privacy rights but his
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
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 consumerist-driven 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
points out, social 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 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 like.

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/pinto-nemorin-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 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. 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 a-changing. 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/21656-
totalitarian-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.