(Up to: Society And Control )

The epitome of an army is a single, coherent body that moves and acts as one organism, such that any single component or group within that army knows precisely what all other components or groups are doing at the same time. An army is at its most efficient when its will is the will of a single consciousness - whether that be the consciousness of a single, leading individual, or otherwise. If an army is not efficient in this way, then it's ability to respond, to attack, and to therefore survive is compromised.

Ideally, the members of an army do not even resort to ways of the individual - to act independently at any time, on or off the battlefield, means that the coherence is breached. To be a soldier in the model army is to give oneself up completely, and become a tiny part of a much larger machine, merely obeying the rule of the objective, and ignoring any wants and desires that may interrupt this.

However, this is the real world, and in the real world the needs of the individual are inherent within a body of people such as an army. And as such, the efficiency of a military body can never be fulfilled completely (without resorting to techniques such as brainwashing, perhaps). These needs of the individual are the cracks that threaten to fragment the solidarity of the military regime.

And so, to coin a cliche, "soldiers are only human". But naturally, this extends to numerous other organisations, moreso as the techniques developed under military environments extend outwards, distilled into more civilian outfits. Anybody that attempts to direct a group of people towards a specific goal realises that the needs of the goal are often at odds with the needs of the individuals, but not everybody necessarily understands how to ensure that the two do not overly conflict.

I think this sums up the danger of placing too much trust in many things, things that seek to replace the power of the individual to make decisions for itself with a greater power, a distant objective. In the end, we are all human, and any system that interacts with humans, or that depends on them, is ultimately doomed to the want of the individual.

Take, for example, the topic of the day, ID Cards. The Government has found a way to render a system foolproof through technology. Arguments regarding the fallibility of such technology aside (i.e. even if the technology were perfect), the system still requires human manipulation. (The alternative is to place our lives into the hands of a machine which, sentient it may or may not be, does not depend upon the same biological necessities as humans, and can never understand how to make decisions in our name. ) And so, even under foolproof technology, the system is vulnerable to bribes, threats, and other forms of power and persuasion. This is unavoidable, and any system seeking to work towards a goal should take this imperfection into account.

See also:

• Kosovo UN troops 'fuel sex trade'
• Foucault explains the evolution of controlling the body in "Discipline And Punish".
• BBC News: MoD begins anti-harassment drive: "This is not about political correctness, it is about operational effectiveness."