At the beginning of my eighth grade year, we read the short story (tween) version of George Orwell's 1984. This book is no "Are you there God? It's Me, Margaret."
1984 scared the shit out of me. (NOT.TO.MENTION it was 1983 when we read it!)
The book, written decades before, talked about a new world, where your thoughts were limited to what the gub-ment only wanted you to think, and, in fact, the "Thought Police", as they were called, were there to monitor your thoughts, and know your intentions, and even more so, your greatest fears. You were watched by an all invasive "Big Brother", one who was never named, but was technically, representative of all acts that were invasive upon your (unexistent at that point), basic human rights.
What about now? Even if you never read 1984 - Most of you have seen the "Minority Report", which does on or around the same thing. I do want to say, though, I love technology. HELLO, I'm using it right now. I hardly carry cash, I love bill pay/online payments, and if you saw my cell phone you would know that it's has anything and everything on it. Now that that is out of the way, I also want to tell you that I also am a CON-Spiracy theorist and sometimes I get to philosophicizin and, so read at your own risk!. :)
We are living in a culture and where there are consistent breakthroughs in the areas of technology, the sciences, health, and education. Equally as such, these very same breakthroughs are what are enabling our technology to put a microchip in your animal to locate it, (and DON'T THINK children are not going to be next), or being instructed to take cervical cancer shots as a mandatory procedure. We are living in an era where your Ralphs Club card, Visa Debitcard, and all other things electronic track your every pleasure, whim, and even fetish. There is a new machine out that is supposedly able to track what your INTENTIONS are (Minority Report, anyone?). And as for viewing/reviewing your purchase taste, you can't even GO into a department store without them asking for your name/phone number and "Would you like to be on our mailing list?" spiel. Going on Amazon will give you a "Hi Patricia, here's what we recommend for you. . ."based on your previous visits to the site. NOT TO MENTION the Gub-Ment wanting to access your library records of what you have read, under the auspices of operating under the "USA Patriot Act".
We are living in a culture and where there are consistent breakthroughs in the areas of technology, the sciences, health, and education. Equally as such, these very same breakthroughs are what are enabling our technology to put a microchip in your animal to locate it, (and DON'T THINK children are not going to be next), or being instructed to take cervical cancer shots as a mandatory procedure. We are living in an era where your Ralphs Club card, Visa Debitcard, and all other things electronic track your every pleasure, whim, and even fetish. There is a new machine out that is supposedly able to track what your INTENTIONS are (Minority Report, anyone?). And as for viewing/reviewing your purchase taste, you can't even GO into a department store without them asking for your name/phone number and "Would you like to be on our mailing list?" spiel. Going on Amazon will give you a "Hi Patricia, here's what we recommend for you. . ."based on your previous visits to the site. NOT TO MENTION the Gub-Ment wanting to access your library records of what you have read, under the auspices of operating under the "USA Patriot Act".
And then there is Gmail. Email on steroids. Email squared. Mail that, puts advertisements in your inbox that are comparable to what you have searched for in Google if you remain signed in after you leave Gmail. Even our love/hate BFF Blogger, required you to retain a Gmail address in order to even UPGRADE to the "New and Improved" blogger.
Let's not forget our beloved You Tube. In an increasingly video-hungry society, our thirst has become unquenchable. Whether it's side splitting humor, or the death of dictators, our video on demand taste has reached infinite status and we have, indeed, reached the point of no return.
So, the next time you're enjoying your GPS Navigational System, or whizzing through the pump via Speedpass, or even trolling through the internet. . .Take another look and tell me, Whose Zooming Who?
But hey, what do I know. I thought that Tony Blair was the Antichrist.
What do YOU Think? Big Brother is Watching, or P's Crazy as Hell?
