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| Three surveillance cameras on the corner of a building (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
You are being monitored. Cameras are everywhere. Nearly everything we do is being tracked by someone somewhere. No matter to what extent you might try to keep your anonymity, forget it--as long as you function in a normal societal sense, you can be found and figured out.
This was once the science fiction fantasy of dystopian novels such as George Orwell's 1984, but now that iconic year has passed and the fantasy has become an absolute reality. There are surveillance cameras on the streets, in buildings we frequent, and even in satellites circling the globe. Eyes are watching you from everywhere. In the future we can expect that our televisions will monitor us in order to customize commercials and programming. The technology is already here--this is already being done on your computer if you haven't noticed yet.
You may not notice who is watching you, but I assure you that you are being monitored. Computers and the internet have made spying easy. Yes, spying. Surreptitious observation is not just the realm of secret agents checking on foreign governments. We are all under the watchful eyes of someone who wants to know what we are up to.
Careful with those income tax returns lest you be flagged by the IRS. They have monster computers that can pick up on unusual reporting. Watch your driving because now automated systems can catch you even if no cops are around. Make sure you're doing what you're supposed to at your job because some companies now have ways of picking up on employee pilfering and mismanagement of work time. More than one babysitter has been caught behaving inappropriately by a hidden nanny cam.
Criminals are now regularly caught in the act by security cameras. Some criminals have even been nailed due to their own stupidity of posting their acts on Facebook or YouTube. If you think others aren't paying that much attention then think again. There are prying eyes everywhere and many are looking right at you.
Governments and corporations aren't the only ones with their eyes on us. Malicious and even sometimes well-meaning neighbors have long been a source of information that can create woes for people doing things which others may not approve. Children turn in parents and parents turn in children. Toeing the party line is no longer just the mantra of communist philosophy. These days say something that upsets someone else and you can be branded as a hater or even worse. In the end you might find yourself facing uncomfortable situations that can lead to job loss or even legal troubles.
Should we feel paranoid? Cautious maybe, but as long as we are keeping a low profile there is probably little reason to worry. We are in a time when the least little word or action has the potential of setting off a maelstrom of woes from which there is sometimes little or no chance of saving your name and reputation.
Recently someone asked me if I would say such and such on my blog. The answer is no. Not at this time at least. There are some things that I'm not going to touch here because honestly I'm a bit afraid to do so. I'm not afraid because of anything I believe, but because of the ways things can be misconstrued, the refusal of those in disagreement to listen to any of the logic that I might present, and the unwillingness to engage in reasonable discussion about issues. Inciting anger against me is not my mission on this blog nor is it my mission in life. Not yet.
There are plenty of things in this world for me to get angry about without feeding the ravenous wolves of irrational thinking in order to create an even more maddening frenzy of argument, distrust, and hatred. There are things I'd like to bring up, but is it worth becoming a target of attack? On the other hand would I never want to express any disagreement and thereby never have any discussion even though others might be wrong? Or maybe I would be wrong and others could help me see the error of my ways. Is conflict worth the risk to me in my current situation?
It's an uncomfortable world at times. Our society balances on tenuous threads of uncertainty so we often keep still and stay quiet so we don't fall into a chaotic void of contention and discord. And in the mean time, are we learning any actual truth? Or do we merely appease the masses by turning from the truth in our attempt to remain within a zone where we can feel relatively comfortable in ignorant complacency?
You can run. You can try to hide. But you can never completely escape the eyes that are upon you. We have to be careful because waiting ears are listening for us to slip up so they can point derisive fingers of accusation to keep the negative attention focused on anyone but them. It's a scary world. Someone is watching us and we might not even realize it most of the time. It's many eyes in fact. Someone is watching you.
This is a stand alone post that expresses some serious thoughts that I've not just been thinking recently, but that I've also had concerns about for some time. I'm mostly pondering, tossing out ideas for you to consider as well. However there is also another motivation in regard to my topic. This post topic is a hint to my song choice for my Battle of the Bands post that will appear this Thursday January 15th. The song is not a song by the Alan Parsons Project so you can discount that one. This next Battle will be a rather amazing one with a classic song that's been recorded numerous times in many styles by a wide range of artists. I would be surprised if you'd never heard this song performed by someone over the years. Be sure to join me here on Thursday for the Battle, but I'll also be here on Wednesday with another clue if no one guesses the song from today's clue.
When have you had a surprise encounter with having been "spied on"? Do you think the surveillance of the general public is an issue for concern? Do you have a guess of the song choice for my next Battle of the Bands post?
