The geeks out there remember the classic Star Trek episode “The Ultimate Computer” when the Admiral referred to Captain Kirk as Captain Dunsel. Captain Dunsel was a term that meant a useless part. In that same episode, Spock said while he admired the skill in building the M5, while he could appreciate the sophistication and logic of the device, he had no wish to serve under a computer.

I am a believer of not being a cog in the machine, not giving in to being a removable and replaceable part in the larger corporate engine. I make it a point to live my life the way I feel is right for me. Even if I make what some might consider a mistake, I’m doing it because it was the best decision at the time. Chaotic Fringe was formed because I didn’t want to be defined by appearances or assumptions. All of us are complicated, contradictory, wondrous beings. We have the ability and the right to break the mold others may want to put in front of us.

The other day a group of us were referred to as human analytics. The phrase was used a number of times in the presentation. I couldn’t help but think of the Captain Dunsel comment from Star Trek. It feels like people have gone from being a cog in the machine to being a human analytic in a computerized matrix. It all translates into the same thing; we are pieces on a chess board to be manipulated. We aren’t thought of as people, as individuals. We are cogs, we are human analytics, and we are statistics.

This election season is going to see us reduced to being human analytics. We are going to be pieces manipulated by corporations to increase their power and influence. There are people like the Koch brothers who are pouring millions of dollars into candidates who will support their agenda. The name of the game isn’t to inform the voters about issues but to smear and slander the other side so much that either people believe there are fighting an evil so vile it isn’t human, or make the situation so toxic they are unwilling to participate.

Yes, it could be argued that both sides are guilty of doing this, but let’s be clear about this. The Republicans, and let’s go ahead and use the umbrella term of conservatives, are willing to do whatever it takes to win the souls of Americans. Many of us are too busy or too lazy to try and look beyond the smokescreens being thrown out there. In my area there is a Senate race going on and there are 4 Republicans trying to get the nomination from their side. I didn’t know there were 4 running until I saw a news broadcast about a debate that took place. One of the people running on the Republican side I didn’t know was a Republican. In the campaign ads of one of his opponents, who has been running ads heavily for the past month (like a commercial every other break cycle); he has linked him to Obama so much I just assumed the person he was running negative ads against was a Democrat.

That is the sad nature of the ad campaign being waged. Unknown donors are pouring millions of dollars into smear campaigns and the candidates have no fingerprints on them. In the recent Republican primaries, people who gave millions of dollars to candidates who opposed Romney are now giving millions to Romney. People like Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum, if left to the old ways of fundraising may have dropped out earlier in the campaign, were given life because of a few billionaires who gave millions to their PACS. Not that I feel sorry for Romney, because his PAC fought back with millions of dollars also, but with so much money and so much of the money going to attack ads, what did the voters really learn about the candidates? Did they learn real policy issues or did they remember smear tactics and talking points?

Unfortunately our political process has made voters political cogs and human analytics. We aren’t thought of as people. We are things to be manipulated and tricked into voting not in our future or well-being but in the interest of the corporate donors. The goal isn’t to win us over but to scare us into thinking the other person or idea is wrong for us. Most of us aren’t going to dig into the media to see what is the truth, even though we have more resources than ever to discover the truth. Even if a lot of us had the time, we are so influenced by external factors we might have all the information in front of us and still refuse to believe the results. That’s why so many people think global warming is a hoax or who still insist the President wasn’t born in America.

If recent legislative results in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia are any indication, we are about to hit some very dark days for democracy in America.