This great article goes into great detail how the current surveillance society came to be, and looks at the historical origins of the entire process – and the debate that continues to this day. It is as enlightening as it is well-written.
No one should believe that real-time government surveillance of the communications network is an idea born of the 9/11 attacks or that it results solely from the Bush administration’s aggrandizing of executive power. The legal arguments that the government has asserted to support increased surveillance of digital space were first put forth in 1994, under a Democratic president, and they had little to do with the threat of Islamic extremism.
All the more reason to continue to fight for our own privacy rights at every turn – because by its very nature, Government (with a capital G) will scoop up every last bit of privacy you have if you don’t defend them. And before you know it, you’ll feel… well, a picture speaks louder than words:
“1984 was NOT supposed to be an instruction manual.”
No, it was not – but it seems like we’re following it as if it were.
