27/04/2026
John Stockwell was a former CIA officer who, after leaving the agency, became one of its most outspoken critics. In the 1970s, he helped run a covert war in Angola. He said agency leaders lied to Congress, hid operations from the public, and caused unnecessary deaths. He sent a clear insight from being inside the system. It is simple: when institutions operate without transparency, abuse follows.
This applies to tech systems with ghe feansfer of wealth to handful. In reality today these tech systems are public infrastructure, infrastructure which has been systematically created to be non optional by design, meaning people cannot choose not to use them, makes them infrastructure (like water, energy, maps) and yet are these tech systems are held as corporate property with little to zero accountability.
Why people ignored Stockwell despite his first hand insight is simply because of the level of trust the population has in the CIA, enforced through media narratives and education systems. Major news outlets dismissed him. Former colleagues accused him of betrayal. Lawmakers showed little interest. However, the knowledge he imparted resonates today.
The application of his insight. Stockwell worried about secret power inside government. Today, that power has shifted to tech corporations. The systems run automatically, often with no human oversight. But it only appears powerful, the wizard is only as powerful as thr curtain that hides the truth.