SURVEILLANCE

A Growing Concern

Privacy has always been the greatest treasure of a free people.  When those in authority seek to remove a people's privacy, you may be assured that they seek to remove their freedom as well.  One of the greatest privileges we have enjoyed in this Country is the freedom to live, move and transact business while maintaining our privacy.  It is what has set us apart from many other oppressive countries around the world.

Yet today, our privacies are being violated in ways too numerous to count and in ways most do not even realize, because there is a truth deficit in the main stream media.  The Government now has seized vast power over the American people through a growing network of surveillance and the invasion of our privacy in ways many never thought possible.

Each and every day it seems that some new revelation is made about the growing surveillance system in our nation.  We are now even being told that our medical records (among our most private information) is to be shared with those in positions of government.  What can this accomplish but to further erode our already limited privacy?

Technology in the Hands of a Tyrant

When one group of people seizes power of another group of people, one of their main objectives is to hold on to that power.  We are living in a land today where every aspect of our lives is being monitored and recorded.  The extent of the surveillance systems in place is staggering.  It is almost certain that hardly a day goes by without some part of your activity being monitored or recorded.

• Recording of web searches
• Accessing telephone records
• License plate scanners
• Networks of CCTV cameras everywhere 
• Biometrics and facial recognition scanners

The impact of these systems on the privacy of everyday, law-abiding citizens is staggering.  The argument is made that if you are not doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about.  The fact is that whether we are doing anything illegal or not has nothing to do with our right to our own privacy.  Again, a free people are a people with a right to privacy.  Free people have the right to live their lives free of surveillance, and having their every move, whether physical or digital, recorded by government.

While the surveillance state grows, we are told to trust those in power, not to abuse that power.  One thing about power is certain.   It cannot be trusted to restrain itself.  Unrestrained power will soon become corrupted power. 

In the Future

We can expect the widespread use of surveillance and truth deficit about it to grow worse in the years ahead.  Citizens should be vigilant about their privacy and be careful about how much information they willingly give up.  Again, it is not about being guilty of anything or not. It is about our right to privacy and the lack of right any government has to violating that privacy, regardless of their reason for claiming to need it.

Unfortunately today, many people are willing to give up their privacy for vague promises of security.  Don't believe it.  Whatever security we receive in exchange for our privacy is a trade not worth making.