Lew Rockwell: Scholars like Garet Garrett, John T. Flynn, and Murray Rothbard have pointed out that a main way the State adds to its power and tyrannizes over the people is to whip up alleged threats from a foreign power. Given the threat, defenders of the State say, don’t we need to take countermeasures, however high the cost? Those of us who grew up in the ‘50s and ’60s remember vividly the “drop drills” that prepared schoolchildren for an impending nuclear attack. The government neglected to tell us that America was far better armed than the Soviets. The “threat” was concocted to justify a militarist policy and massive government spending.

In this careful study, David Hathaway has given us a microstudy of the Orwellian State’s technique to add to its power. On July 8, 1962, an atomic warhead was detonated in the Pacific. One purpose of the blast was to study the impact, if any, of ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) effects. One incident is alleged to show such effects. Based on this incident, the government concluded that hostile powers could use EMPs to disable the electronic infrastructure of our country. Even after the Cold War ended, the government has continued to tout the threat posed by EMPs.

Hathaway comments: “The alleged incident happened on the island of Oahu which is made up of the City and County of Honolulu. This incident has developed a cult following within the EMP science community. The incident allegedly involved blown fuses in a small number (less than 1%) of street light strings. It has been trotted out for decades as the single definitive proof of EMP effects on power grid and long-wire infrastructure.”

Hathaway isn’t convinced. He presents a painstaking discussion of the incident, subsequent investigations, and the science behind EMP effects. He writes clearly about complicated science, and his conclusion is backed by abundant evidence: “EMP is a ridiculous notion; one that we are supposed to give up our money, our common sense, and our freedom to validate. From the state’s perspective, there is always some area of life where people haven’t yet developed the proper level of panic to make them tolerate the forced filling of state coffers in relation to that area. There is always something new to fear that the public can’t quite grasp without the government to ratchet up its fears.”

David Hathaway deserves our gratitude for his excellent and timely account of a little-known propaganda campaign by the State.

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Chairman and Founder of Mises Institute
Auburn, Alabama
December 15, 2017