The enemy is within. We can no longer trust ourselves, individually, or collectively. The old 20th century "Us vs. Them" arguments no longer hold. We can no longer define an enemy over "There". The enemy is right here, among us. Within us. Individually (within our hearts and souls), and collectively (i.e. within our governments).
Surveillance will no longer save us. Not merely because it's "Them" watcing "Us", but also because surveillance is a 20th century-ism. Foucault described so eloquently, not only Bentham's Panopticon, but, more importantly, I think, the opportunistic aspects of the Plague. It was once said that "Authority Loves the Plague". Had Foucault been writing today, he might have said "Government Loves Anthrax". Or Smallpox. Or whatever. The anthrax didn't come from abroad. It came from within. From within our continent. From within our own labs. Collectively. (From within the labs of our own governments, or those governments friendly to us.)
Surveillance, by its very nature, defines an "Us" and "Them" axis. Axes of evil? Axes (x,y) meet at a point called the "origin" (0,0). Where is the origin of the axes of evil? No amount of surveillance will ever answer that question. Because surveillance only goes along one direction on these axes. It always points outwards. It never gets to the origin. Like the Yin and Yang, there must be two somewhat equal and somewhat opposite forces, in order to have stability. Positive and negative. Above and below. Sur and Sous. So we balance surveillance with sousveillance. Watching from below.
Who's afraid of glogs? Terrorists! Or officials involved in Corrupt Covernment Coverups.
But if a public official is honest, he or she should have nothing to hide. At the very least, if and when we're under surveillance, there should be no objection to sousveillance. So my general operating principle is that if there are ANY surveillance cameras viewing a space, it's a freefire zone for being glogged.
--S. Mann, 2002.
Acting in the capacity of Assistant Filing Clerk Trainee for EXISTech Corporation.