FOOs

Forces

Of

Occupation.

Doesn't matter if the Jackboot pressing on your neck is worn by an Alien Space Bat; a member of the Bananian Army; an Officer of the Special Police; a regular beat cop or some guy from the department of agriculture, once they strap on those Jackboots they become the Forces of Occupation.

Subject, Citizen, Comrade, it matters not what you used to think of yourself as, you are now just a doormat.

In the 19th Century we could look back fondly at the 18th century revolutions, but from automatic rifle to Predator/Reaper/Avenger drone the asymmetry between "we the public" no matter how well armed and military might has grown from merely overwhelming to defying quantification. The Eureaka Stockade fell to superior training and equipment deployed with the unwavering willingness of Jackbooted thugs to act in a dishonourable manner. The Spanish Civil War saw Franco's triumph in part due to provision of state of the art aircraft by the Italians and Germans and the blockade preventing similar aid reaching the Republicans.

As the 20th Century wore on, we saw the limit of oppression being only the intestinal fortitude of the oppressors. With a few horrifying exceptions, there have been limits to how cold blooded the oppressors are willing to be. Where they have acted without qualms, the atrocities have been devastating and crushing.

In the 21st Century we are forced to confront the fact that where the rule of law loses the power to protect us, the military and the increasingly indistinguishable paramilitarized police can hunt us down and kill us at whim, limited only by their willingness to accept collateral casualties and their own core humanity. The moment they take a page from the history of the SS and start executing random civilians in retaliation for resistance, we are lost.

That raises a new specter. DNA testing means that the families of resistance fighters and revolutionaries can be targeted even where there is no traditional evidence to form links. Perhaps we have reached the point where only an orphan can oppose the might of the state.