Monday, June 8, 2009

Surveillance Society

Today is the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's classic, 1984. In one of those synchronicities I love, I posted a comic referring to the concept in the title in my last post from yesterday. Britain has gone much further than the US with respect to monitoring private communications (e.g. phones and e-mail), and public movement, but we mustn't delude ourselves into thinking we are fully aware of the degree to which our own governments are monitoring our communications, our actions, our purchases, our readings, and our movements- or even what aspects of our lives they are capable of monitoring. My skepticism monitor jumps to eleven any time I hear the "slippery slope" argument, but the fact that the idea has been so over- and mis- used does not mean that it's always invalid. This might be a good idea to ponder on today.

And if you haven't read 1984, you should. I could only read it once. I tried to read it again during shrub's second campaign, and simply couldn't: it was that raw and depressing.

5 comments:

Mule Breath said...

Curious that I missed the anniversary, as Eric Blair has been one of my favorite authors thru the years. Curious also is the dichotomy between the progress in Europe to overcome religious bias and the utter failure to protect basic human rights.

Lockwood said...

Mule Breath- thanks for the comment; I had to wiki "eric blair" to discover that "George Orwell" was a pseudonym. Sad biography. I really didn't know much about him, just happened to come across the linked article in my RSS feed earlier, and felt it was worth pointing out. The idea of the kind of culture and govt he posits has been on my mind a lot over the past few years. Though as I said, I doubt I'll ever be able to bring myself to read 1984 again.

Mule Breath said...

If 1984 is a difficult read now, let me suggest another Orwell tome you might find of interest. The Road to Wigan Pier. This was Orwell acting as a reporter of sorts, and an excellent expose of British subculture of the day.

Dean Wormer said...

I can't decide if I'm more concerned with the datamining done by the government or private industry at this point.

I think it's the datamining done by both in conjunction.

Lockwood said...

Dean- the fact I'm paranoid doesn't prove that rich, powerful interests with no concern whatsoever regarding my welfare aren't out to get me.