In Oceania I wrote of the current police presence escorting commuter ferries in the San Francisco Bay: Coast Guard and SFPD Zodiacs, armed to the teeth. My hypothesis painted this show of force as pure play-acting for a populace in fear.

I admit a moment of delusion and hubris in the original post. The common conception most ferry commuters have of the armed escort is one of security and benevolence, that it serves to protect them as they cower in the face of "terrorism, terrorism, terrorism." The powers-who-lie encourage this self-centered viewpoint, promoting the fantasy each individual American warrants military guard, but it's not accurate. In communism you live and die for the state. Here in big capitalism you live and die for the economy. How are these positions different from one another?

I learned the truth of our escorts from a friend involved in international maritime trade and port security. Apparently there is credible intelligence of possible attacks on tankers and the Bay's northern shoreline refineries, using the ferries for explosive delivery.

The boats with big guns aren't here to protect us. They're here to take us out before we get to the oil.

Related: Oceania