Where you at?

In 1984 George Orwell predicted a society where the masses were under constant surveillance by governments (a belief followed by many theorists, both before and after him). Every move was watched, thoughts were monitored, and freedom was only a rumor of days gone by. Within all these theories,  the supposition remained that Big Brother would force such pervasive observation techniques on the masses; however it would appear that in 2007 the masses are quickly embracing such a totalitarian society by means of our own free will and desire for cool stuff and the illusion of safety and creature comforts.

With GPS technology creeping into every consumer product, from Nikes to cellphones (Boost mobile: “Where you at?” “None of your fucking business!”), our ever step is becoming not only trackable but traceable as well.  Unless you are an explorer traversing jungles and uncharted islands or perhaps a character on LOST, I’d wager that GPS is a completely unnecessary luxury to the average person- I mean, how often do you get lost, really?

Of course these products biggest selling point is the safety and protection they offer:  if you are kidnapped or lost in the woods, your shoes will lead rescuers to you; if you break down on the a dark and lonely road, help is just a button push away. (As for Boost mobile-I have no idea how its useful to know exactly where the person you are talking to is. Maybe that ones being pitched to paranoid men and women with trifling spouses, but I digress).    Sure,  it was great they knew exactly where I was and what the problem was on that one occasion in 3 years that I needed to push that the OnStar button in the car, but that very technology that can (and I’m quite certain is) used to monitor my car if it breaks down, can be activated to monitor my car, my Nikes, my phone when its working fine.

CVS, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and the majority of supermarkets and other retail stores all offer discount cards free of charge to anyone who wants one. They’re great at saving you a buck or two; you present it at check out, the clerk scans it and all your purchases history is transmitted into some super computer that tracks costumer #67554i657658 purchases. Some of them do this to offer you coupons on products that your purchase history indicates you use regularly, others use that same purchase history to make recommendations on similar products that you might enjoy. In the spirit of total disclosure- I certainly make use of these cards and discounts, but I’m very aware that someone is very aware of how often I go to the 24 hour CVS to buy Golden Grahams and milk.

With capitalism and our own need to consume making folks comfortable with the thought of surveillance and all-access, the government is quickly stepping in to push through some laws of their own that will further enable monitoring of our actions and activities. By convincing the average citizen it is necessary to defeat terrorism, the Patriot Act has been, piece by piece, stripping away civil liberties. The push for a National ID Card for all US citizens has sparked huge debate in all sectors both on points of practicality and impenetrability. When Average Joe says “Well, I’m not doing anything wrong, let them watch”, it’s obvious that most of America is missing the point. This blitzkrieg on personal privacy won’t make anyone safer, but has instead convinced us to embrace a totalitarian culture.

None of this is groundbreaking news, open any paper you can read it for yourself. But between you, me and the FBI agent reading this: have no doubt- Big Brother is watching; we have not only let him in, but we made a place for him at the table.