Confessions of a "Little Eichmann"

Let's get real for just a moment. In the recent shit
storm witch-hunt kicked up by right wing thugs bent on
silencing Professor Ward Churchill certain truths have
become uncertain, if that is possible. As a person
who was once in a position similar to the
"technocrats" and "little Eichmanns" Churchill
identifies in the Twin Towers I feel like I inhabit a
position where I can shed some clarity on that aspect
of the manufactured outrage surrounding the essay "On
the Justice of Roosting Chickens".

>From April 1994 to April 2000 I worked for two
different criminal enterprises. The first was Kemper
National Insurance Company in Long Grove, Illinois.
It has since gone under. The second was Fair, Isaac
Incorporated based in San Rafael, California. Fair,
Isaac is going strong. I held technocrat positions in
both institutions in virtue of the mathematics degree
I obtained from the University of Texas at Austin. At
Kemper I was an actuary in training and at Fair, Isaac
I provided consulting services to insurance company
clients. At both institutions I maintained silence
around activities that were patently unethical and
likely criminal.

Some examples: I witnessed egregious sexism at both
institutions. Women were set up to fail, judged by
different standards and frequently took the fall for
the poor decisions and incompetence of male managers.
I delivered software to clients that was unfinished
and untested. Management knew this. I maintained
silence around my discovery that Fair, Isaac had a
secret contract with the IRS to determine whom to
target with random audits. The vast majority of the
people targeted by random IRS audits are poor and lack
the means to defend themselves. This is not a
coincidence. This was actually a theme at Fair,
Isaac: statistical models were developed to help
businesses determine who was or was not a "risk".
These models invariably reinforce the structural race,
gender, and class inequalities in the U.S.. I also
made models with the knowledge that one in four credit
reports contains an error serious enough to result in
a denial of credit. Fair, Isaac is now pitching
itself to the government (such as it is) as a company
that can use data to tell the "real terrorists" from
the rest of us. Be very afraid. The work that I was
doing contributed directly to harming the livelihood
of other individuals. If you were denied credit to
purchase a home it was due to decisions that I and
others like me made. Most of my coworkers also
suffered from this awareness and we sometimes traded
rationalizations when we dared to confront the truth.
If we didn't do it someone else would. You've got to
look out for yourself. The money is to good to turn
down. And on and on. We were Little Eichmanns. We
didn't design the crime but we made sure it went off
without a hitch.

In April of 2000 Fair, Isaac fired 40 low level
employees, the first such firings in company history,
destroying lives to pander to the stock market. For
me this was the straw that broke the camels back. I
acted on years of questioning and outrage and walked
out of Fair, Isaac. I began the process of working
for justice and dismantling White Supremacist
Imperialist Patriarchy. I advocate a vision of
justice where each individual is valued and not one
person on the planet lacks housing, education, medical
care or an unpolluted environment. The permanent war
and the security state do not exist in this vision.
As an activist / organizer who was been in the guts of
the capitalist machine I have to say that I back
Professor Churchill in his description of the
technocrats in the World Trade Centers as Little
Eichmanns. I knew what I was doing was wrong, I did
it anyway and I was not an isolated example. In fact,
I can honestly say that I did not meet a single
technocrat who was unaware that what they were doing
was wrong on some level. Many were saving money to
pursue their dreams; many were too far in debt through
lavish living to entertain thoughts of giving up the
cash. We were not paid salaries, we were paid bribes.
A little Eichmann who loves his children, who
contributes to charities, who abstains from alcohol,
and then goes to work and knowingly greases the wheels
of capitalism is still a little Eichmann. I know
because I was one.

In my opinion Professor Churchill is guilty merely of
a lack of tact. Churchill meticulously documents in
his essay and other books that the U.S. has always
targeted civilians. The Middle Passage, Smallpox
blankets, Wounded Knee, Hiroshima, Dresden, The War on
Drugs, the sanctions against Iraq, Shock and Awe, Abu
Ghraib - to list only a few cases. Thus, and one
should concede the point, we should not be surprised
if civilians are targeted in return. And as I
understand Churchill, he is not saying that it is
correct to target civilians. He is saying that if the
U.S. populace supports a government that targets
civilians they should not feign surprise or declare
loss of innocence when the same is done to us. This
should not be a controversial point. Think only of
the phrase "Do unto others as you would have others do
unto you". We should abhor the loss of all civilian
life. Do we?

Professor Churchill constitutes a test case for the
neofascist right. Ideally, they would like to see the
state put him to death. I think they might be happy
to settle for a sacking or death by "vigilante". The
racism inherent in the right's choice of test case
should be lost on no one. If the Right succeeds in
sacking a tenured professor based on the content of an
essay we will see the floodgates open and witness the
beginning of a new McCarthyism (starring John
Negroponte as J. Edgar Hoover) that will make the old
look quaint and obsolete. The Right has dreamed of
purging academia for generations. They'll work their
way up to the white folks. Whether or not one agrees
with Churchill's arguments (and I do) or is offended
by his lack of tact (I am not) we should be supporting
him with gusto. Pastor Niemoller's exhortations bear
repeating "In Germany, first they came for the
communists and I did not speak out - because I was not
a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I did
not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they
came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out -
because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came
for the Catholics and I did not speak out - because I
was a Protestant. Then they came for me - and there
was no one left to speak out for me".

Dear reader, please take three concrete acts of
rebellion to support Professor Churchill and confront
the neofascist assault. First, contact the members of
the 30-day review committee that has been assembled to
consummate the witch-hunt and advocate for Professor
Churchill. The means of contacting them can be found
at this link:

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20050208094647750

There is also a petition supporting word Churchill
which can be found at:

http://www.coloradoaim.org/wardpetition.htm

Second, read his work. The essay "I am Indigenist" is
a brilliant articulation of a political strategy that
can work. Read the book "A Little Matter of Genocide:
Holocaust and Denial in the Americas 1492 to the
Present." You'll be glad you did. The neofacsists
will not be glad you did.

Third, see Professor Churchill speak. They will howl
with rage. Professor Churchill will be speaking at
the Anarchist Book Fair on Saturday, March 26 at the
San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park
just across from 9th and Lincoln,

To my fellow little Eichmanns: quit your job and
start working for justice. We need you. The hour is
late and the situation is becoming dire.

To Professor Churchill: Thank you for speaking the
truth and may your book sales multiply tenfold.

Dee Ouellette is a queer transgender mother who lives
with her wife and son in Emeryville, California. She
self-identifies as Jerry Falwell's worst nightmare.