The Panopticon Singularity

[unixronin]

This article on the Panopticon Singularity is relayed from janetmiles, who first brought it to my attention.  It should be required reading both for those who Understand The Problem, to borrow a phrase from Col. Jeff Cooper, and for those who persist in the innocent belief that government exists for their benefit.  (Word to the wise:  In this age of information and technology, governments are frightened, and governments that are frightened but still have power to do something about it with are the greatest enemies of freedom that exist or ever have existed.)

(I also strongly recommend his articles on why no more Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors will ever be built, why DejaNews should be considered harmful, and censorship and the 'Net.)

Comments

[caged-admin.livejournal.com]

I can't agree with the conclusion reached in the article. Assuming that ubiquitous surveillance comes to pass (and I don't agree that it's inevitable), I envision something much closer to Lacey And His Friends than Giedi Prime.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Care to enlarge upon that?

I try not to underestimate the stupidity, the rapacity, or the elitism of those who graciously allow us to elect them as our masters. Oops, I mean leaders. Silly me.

I don't think it necessarily will happen. However, I also don't think that the mere fact I don't think it necessarily will, means it or something like it won't. It's an awful lot easier to get a system like that into place when civil "servants" don't want to think and want all the decisions made for them, so that all they have to do is follow the letter of the rules and regulations like good little robots.

[caged-admin.livejournal.com]

Simply put, I think that universal surveillance -- again, if it happens -- will pretty much guarantee destruction of most of our legal codes for private citizens. By which I mean that politicians that fail to abolish laws regulating (for instance) what you can and can't do in the bedroom will be voted out of office in a hurry.

Think about all the laws that many of us violate in any given day, and think about how long they'd stay on the books if the authorities could check on you with "smart" cameras. Punishable infractions would be pared down to violent crimes and not much else.

I highly recommend Lacey And His Friends for more illumination. (It's just been republished as part of the Grimmer Than Hell collection. Should be easy to get through Amazon or local bookstores.)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope it would work that way, though I think the "VOTE FOR $PARTY CANDIDATE REGARDLESS OF ISSUES OR RECORD" reflex of the average American voter is not to be underestimated. my impression is most American voters *believe* the campaign promises, and once the election is over they don't want to be bothered again until the next election, even though they'll whine and grumble in the meantime.

As for Lacey, yes, I have a copy.  (And just got Grimmer Than Hell a few weeks ago from the library.)

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I'm running out of adjectives for scale here[.]

-Ogre