George Orwell wrote the novel “1984” in 1949. This was before the internet, data mining, and GPS. It was both science and social fiction at the time. Sixty years later it is more science and less fiction. If you haven’t read it, you should.
Wikipedia describes the book as a dystopian novel about an oligarchical, collectivist society in a world of pervasive government surveillance and incessant public mind control. In “1984” the individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part, collectivist philosophy which allows the Big Brother Party, to manipulate and control humanity.
Random Thots found the following headlines all published in the same day:
CNN Reporter Put On Watch List After Criticizing TSA
http://www.prisonplanet.com/cnn-reporter-put-on-watch-list-after-criticizing-tsa.html
Wave goodbye to Internet freedom
FCC crosses the Rubicon into online regulation
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/2/wave-goodbye-to-internet-freedom/
Government reports violations of limits on spying aimed at U.S. citizens
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120206052_pf.html
Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans’ Credit Cards in Real Time
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/realtime/
No headlines surfaced that day relative to GPS, but we know that many cars have tracking transmitters openly placed for fleet control and clandestinely placed for marketing and research purposes. Credit card transactions are recorded enabling the tracking of our whereabouts when out of the car. The possibilities with cellphones are limited only by our imagination. The tools are all in place for Big Brother to employ when the time is ripe.
Wikileaks, interestingly enough, is actually a reversal of Orwell’s theme. Orwell had the Memory Hole down which truth was thrown so that only government claims would remain standing as truth. Government ‘truth’ was called Newspeak. Assange with his Wikileaks is revealing what might be called Realspeak and throwing government Diplomaspeak down the Memory Hole.
The problem from America’s point of view is Assange is only exposing only one country and that happens to be us. If the same degree of revelation were made for every nation we would come out looking pretty good. Just imagine what Russian secret memos would reveal!
RANDOM THOTS 