Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Constitutional Issues Big brother is watching

The term big Brother is watching has implications. The implications are from the book 1984. The implications are that big brother is not only watching he's doing something about it. He is disapproving of your behavior.

But in order for this analogy makes sense I think there has to be a connection between whatever watching is being done and some sort of social or political manipulation. And that is my primary disagreement.

Yes there are security cameras perhaps all over the place and they're watching/recording I suppose. And there are databases of what number has called what other number. B

But what are they actually doing to shape or judge my life?

Conceptually such systems could be the basis for some sort of big brother type of program... some program that intends to modify peoples believes behaviors and expressions.

But to me that it's not what I see being done What I see is that for instance with occupy Wall Street people went out on the street to make their point. Tea parties have rallies they do whatever they want to do to express their opinion. People are on the street expressing their opinions about all sorts of stuff... Both publicly and privately. There is no shortage at all of people expressing negative opinions about Obama... And they do not seem to disappear or suffer consequences.

I do not see big brother programs that are altering peoples freedom or restricting the way that people behave. And in fact if these so-called big brother programs were indeed as effective as apparently proposed, why don't they stop drug trafficking. Why don't they stop rape. Why don't they stop gun trafficking. Why are law enforcement agencies surprised by mass murderers that they have bugged and monitored for every instant of their lives?

There's all manner of things that theoretically could be easily controlled if we really did have some sort of all-knowing big brother society, keeping track of everything everyone does. But instead of knowing all this stuff ahead of time, Law enforcement seems only to find out after the fact, and even has a hard time figuring out who did what. How is this possible if they are intruding into every waking moment of each of our lives?

But that said I don't see people being inhibited in a particular way by this so-called big brother society we live in. I don't see that the so called security state is causing people to live their lives differently, I don't see that people feel a lack of freedom to express themselves. I do not see a reluctance to criticize the administration.

SO what the heck? If we live in this tremendously intrusive security state.... How come they seem so very inefficient in doing all the social structuring that is associated with the book 1984? How is it that people on this forum free to openly speak out against the administration?

It seems to me that in order to have a 1984 type scenario, there has to be more than databases, more than cameras.... there has to be verifiable evidence that people are being repressed in their thoughts, expressions and actions. And I just do not see that.