They will stop degrading us

I’ve been pondering on what the consequences of the surveillance society means for everyday life, what we will do, how we will act. I’m sorry to say that very few, probably no one, will do what should be done. At least not in time.

Instead we will start to adapt to our new situation. It’s a couple of new laws many will try to avoid, some don’t care about, but most will just go ahead living as nothing have happen.

I have myself been thinking how this changes things for me and what I come to realize is that I might be changing some of the things I’ve taken for granted for many years now. The very notion of how to stay away from the thought police is right now being pondered upon by many citizens, and what is that really? Its self-censorship! Already here our enemies have reached their goal because out of fear and self-preservation we will need to learn new skills, learn to avoid certain words, certain sites or how to get information without triggering any alarm among those set to watch us. This is the very essence of the control-grid; make us change our habits to suit those in charge.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I can and cannot do, because the laws isn’t completely clear either which is another intentional ruse – if we don’t know what’s really illegal and we don’t know the consequences i.e. the punishment isn’t clearly lined out, it makes the situation more stressful, more fuzzy. Which torrent can I use? What can I put up on YouTube? Which search-word will trigger the alarm? Can I chat with friends in China or Russia without the government reading and listening in? What information can I find, read and use without the government spying on me? How many songs can I download before they bust down my door and steal my computer? Can I still watch an old movie from the 70’s online?

This entire mind-process is carried out right now by thousands of people, and those people aren’t criminals or hardened terrorists. This isn’t paedophiles or smugglers; these are ordinary men and women not wanting to be caught by the Thought Police. Even those "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" –people need to acknowledge this fact, and this is bad enough. Already with this in mind, things have gone too far. When our every action can be monitored, can be scrutinized, can be subject to prosecution, we have a very uncomfortable society of totalitarian intent. And the key-word here is “can”. Internet isn’t limited to a certain country, and the information flow isn’t staying within borders, it’s all travelling around everywhere.

Take this blog as an example. Not only am I writing pretty challenging and provocative posts, I have written posts within the borders of 5 different countries, I have visitors from all over the world, people send me email and follow my links to other sites. The information on this blog, the very content has travelled all over the world and back again millions of times already, crossing borders and passing through thousands of computers. And since you can be very sure that I’ve covered most of the search-words and key-phrases the Thought Police are scanning for, I already know that I’ve been picked up by the control-grid several times over.

It doesn’t matter if the Thought Police themselves are being monitored, if they need court-rulings to search my computer, or if they are not supposed to do this or that, they still can do all that and then some. And besides, who are stupid enough to believe that things stop now? Who among you are such idiots that you think there will be no more laws? No more exceptions? I started saying years ago that this was just the beginning, and it is. No one in their right mind can think different.

And because they can, and many times will, it means that journalist’s sources, confessions to priests, business secrets and much more will get swooped up once in a while. It’s a built in consequence. They say they won’t read or save such information if they happen to get hold of it, but who are that stupid to believe in such lies?

After pondering a while, and gotten pretty far in changing my habits, I come to realize something, why do I bother? I have no money, they can sue me until judgment day, no money will ever come from me anyway. I have no family of my own that can get hurt by the process. I have no fear of the police or the justice system. And going to jail, in particular to a Swedish prison, is like going to a retreat. So why bother?

But even so, this entire post, the very process of thinking that I and many more are doing right now, is enough. This is what they really want, to keep us distracted, keep us occupied with worries, make us contemplate punishment versus downloading porn. Having us looking over the shoulder keeping us constantly watchful for cameras is a great way of making us feeling that uneasy tension.

The good news, however, is that an entire generation of people has grown tired of this, there is a lot of fuck you’s being issued and I’m not the only one wanting and smelling that revolution. People have seen how the elitists work, how they fix the system to suit their needs. Bias judges, bought politicians and the chase after lawful citizens have been brought to many people’s attention. So many have taken that step over to the dark side mistrusting everything the government says or does, that there is a small glimmer of hope. An increasing number of people want to stop the degrading of us, stop the imposing fascism. The only questions are if we will rebel in time? Or will we wait until it’s too late? Will there be bloodshed and politicians dangling from lamp-posts or not?

It’s just a matter of time, and until that day, may I offer you some listening to Muse?