Camera, Mic, & Me

I recently read a blurb from an article, probably for a sociology class but I can't remember for sure, that offered a classic comparison to the novel 1984. It agreed that the society presented by Orwell, under constant, technological surveillance, is eerie, but claimed our current society might just be eerier, considering we ourselves willingly purchase and install such devices.

*cue Twilight Zone theme*
What's more controlling and terrifying than a society that forces you to remain under constant surveillance? A society that tricks you into choosing it yourself.

It all sounds very dramatic and high-risk, very "you've been warned", very Black Mirror.

And I'm well aware of all the cookies and search tracking and Facebook whatnothaveyou about figuring out my interests and buying-patterns for targeted ads. My knickers aren't in a knot over that, if anything I am getting some pretty relevant ads. The more unsettling situation is the being watched/eavesdropped on.

I said it's "unsettling", but is it really? If it were just me and a handful of other people that were being monitored, then yeah, I'd be unsettled, but everyone (that consistently operates modern technology)?

That's enough for everything to be personally irrelevant. Maybe someone is reading my personal texts to close friends, maybe. But if they are, they don't care! Because guess who else has ever texted a friend about a crush or an embarrassing situation or a matter of personal hygiene or their weight loss plans? Every single person with a phone. 

Beyond that, think of how many hundreds of crimes, ones that were for sure discussed over phone and/or text, succeed per day!

My roommate and I have, countless times, directly addressed the NSA when discussing how we would orchestrate our own multi-million dollar heists, given the opportunity, and we've yet to detect the PI's following us or the officers assigned to our case.

I'm just not too concerned about it. At one point it was the national security thing, then we were all talking about the business side of it, the ad targeting. And I long ago lost track of how it all aligns politically. Was it too much government? Was it not enough government? Donkeys and Elephants were involved at some point? Maybe bulls? Good gravy America, take a breather. I know you're stressed, I know what your ex said last week, I know about that late bill, ohhohoo, I know everything *fade out*