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BIG BROTHER WILL
BE WATCHING YOU
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I'm in a quandary. I have found a way to end all crime in
America, and I'm not particularly pleased about it.
Let's start with some simple infractions, like driving solo in
the carpool lane. We could erase most of the budget deficit by collecting
the $490 fine levied against these offenders.
There's certainly plenty of them. I was in the adjoining lane
the other day and watched car after car after car (all gas vehicles that get
no pass) slide by with a solo occupant, even though it was rush hour and at
least two people per car were required.
Some might just be clueless, but I would surmise that most are
in the lane because they know they won't get caught. I can't remember the
last time I saw a highway patrolman pull over a carpool lane cheater, mainly
because it's too difficult to get in a position to do so.
The solution is simple: Cameras.
NOOOOOO!!!! That would be the reaction from many of us,
including me. I read George Orwell's classic novel, "1984." Big
Brother is watching. Privacy is far more important. Government will control
our lives. We're petrified of being watched.
Well, guess what? We are being watched, every day, all day
long. And it's nothing compared to the surveillance we'll see in the next
decade or two. So maybe we should start using the inevitable to fight crime.
This is nothing new. Red-light cameras have been around since
1965, and are used in all major cities in California. Stats show they've
reduced serious accidents. Big Brother has already started watching.
Cameras capturing license plates and drivers can easily and
inexpensively be placed in carpool lanes. And there's now sensors available
that can accurately determine how many occupants are in the car. Watch those
carpool lanes free up once the $490 fine comes in the mail.
It's an ever changing world. Cameras are everywhere, so they
might as well be on the freeway. Every store you walk in, every restaurant
where you eat, every sidewalk you walk down, most doorbells that you
ring---you're likely to be on camera and being recorded.
Privacy? Not if you go outside your home in an urban area.
Estimates are that a Londoner is likely caught on a closed-circuit security
camera over 300 times a day. In the United States, the estimate drops to an
average of 75 times per day. But it's rising every year as more security
cameras are installed.
Do we care? Of course we care, but it's not going away. I'd
love to have no one watching me. But I also like leaving my house.
Cameras are here to stay, like them or not. It's the next step
that is even more scary---satellites.
At the end of June, there were more than 11,000 satellites
orbiting the Earth, some for communication and other uses but many for
surveillance. Like every innovation, the technology is improving every year,
and it won't be long before satellites will be able to identify every move
you make.
Yes, scary and disheartening. But since we're all going down
this dark road, we might as well focus on the potential positive---solving
crimes.
Rob a liquor store, mug an old lady, break into a car, kidnap a
child, murder a stranger---Big Brother is watching, and Big Brother will
watch you all the way to where you're going. Unsolved crimes will be vastly
reduced, assuming (and this is always a big assumption) there's enough law
enforcement to follow up .
We can pass laws preventing private American companies from
conducting this intense surveillance, but we can't control other countries,
like China or Russia. It's a small world, and they'll be watching us. We
might as well do the same to fight crime.
I truly wish it weren't so. Laws should be followed out of
respect and not fear. But there's a lot of bad guys out there with no fear
of being caught, and we might as well add some fear to their lives.
Surveillance is a deterrent that is here today and will only become stronger
in the years ahead. That's the world we live in. Might as well start with
the carpool lanes.
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