These days it’s hard to tell if it’s 2003 or 1984. Things are so bizzare and surreal that the Russians are lecturing the Americans about Orwell, an author banned in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and now He-Whose-Name-Must-Not-Be-Spoken in America. US editorials detailing the current situation are seemingly drowned out by the drums of war. The latest Cassandra to weigh in is the American Civil Liberties Union. “A combination of lightning-fast technological innovations and the erosion of privacy protections threatens to transform Big Brother from an oft-cited but remote threat into a very real part of American life,” an ACLU report issued last Wednesday claims. Entitled “Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society“, it continues, “It is not just the reality of government surveillance that chills free expression and the freedom that Americans enjoy. The same negative effects come when we are constantly forced to wonder whether we might be under observation.” With Super Bowl Sunday upon us, it is perhaps appropriate to remember that classic commercial that aired in 1984…
One thought on “Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: Surveillance in American Society”
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I think this quote from the ACLU article pretty much sums things up:
“A gradual weakening of our privacy rights has been underway for decades, but many of the most startling developments have come in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11. But few of these hastily enacted measures are likely to increase our protection against terrorism. More often than not, September 11 has been used as a pretext to loosen constraints that law enforcement has been chafing under for years.”
I don’t know about anyone else, but I worry far more about the erosion of privacy and fundamental human rights as America spirals towards an Orwelian society than I do about terrorism. In its attempt to stop terrorism, the Bush Administration seems willing to forsake every principle America once stood for, all so that they won’t have to try the one tactic that would almost assuredly work–stop meddling in the affairs of foreign nations to the point that you create hatred so deep that people will resort to terrorism as their only means of fighting back. Until you stop creating the seeds of hatred, can terrorism ever end?
It’s ironic–in the aftermath of 911, government officials were very quick to tell the public not to let the threat of terrorism disrupt their daily lives, otherwise “the terrorists win.” Yet it is those same officials that have allowed their fear to overpower their common sense, in creating a series of ill-concieved policies, thus ensuring that the daily lives of all Americans WILL be affected.