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A Journal for Western Man |
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If a new application of the Global Positioning System (GPS) passes
muster and finds favor with the Big Siblings of Western democracies,
speeding may eventually become a thing of the past. Being tested in
Canada and at least contemplated in Britain, the system would be
placed in vehicles and communicate with orbital satellites, informing
the car’s computer about the speed limit of the road being traversed.
All the government need do then is mandate that automobiles be fitted
with speed-limiting devices and, voilà, your car would be prevented
from exceeding any speed limit, no matter how unrealistic it was or
what emergency arose.
Elements of this technology have already been used to a similar end in
our nation, albeit by a private entity. It was found that the Acme
Auto rental car company was using GPS technology to monitor its
customers and then charged them a $150 penalty every time they drove
at least eighty miles-per-hour for more than two minutes. And while a
GPS installed in your vehicle can enable law enforcement to locate it
if it’s stolen, it could also allow insurance companies to ascertain
the frequency with which you use your car, the distance you travel and
speed at which you drive. They would then be able to base your rate
on the data.
However, it’s governmental exploitation of such technology that’s most
troubling. And the phenomenon that makes such advancements alluring
reminds me of a somewhat analogous event from my childhood, although
its relation may not be readily apparent.
One day, my first or second grade class was in gym, ready to enjoy a
much-anticipated dose of activity. It was at this time that one girl
classmate did something wrong, and while I don’t remember her
transgression, I’ll never forget the teacher’s response. She
immediately removed whole class from gym, thinking, I suppose, that
the shame and guilt the lass would feel and the scorn she would endure
at our hands would be the worst punishment of all. Funny, though, I
didn’t sense that she was racked by the pangs of a tormented
conscience. As for the rest of us, having the short memories of
childhood, the sun didn’t set on our anger. So scorn wasn’t in the
cards.
It occurs to me, though, that one principle the teacher might have
forgotten is that “misery loves company,” especially among
seven-year-olds. Besides, there’s no saying that the girl even liked
gym. But I digress.
I have long viewed this anecdote as a metaphor for the modern concept
of criminal-justice and societal control. After all, think about the
philosophy inherent in the teacher’s misguided actions. There was an
apparent unwillingness to single out the perpetrator for punishment;
rather, the rights of the many were stripped as a response to the
misdeeds of the few (one). And, if you have your finger on the pulse
of our culture, this philosophy is evident at every turn.
For instance, we see this in gun-control legislation and in the
“knife-control” (I’m not kidding) effort in England. A sane society
would simply punish transgressors harshly enough to create a deterrent
that dwarfed the incentive to commit the crime, thereby minimizing the
behavior by tilting the risk/reward factor against the criminals.
But, no, anything that would actually be effective is now labeled
“cruel and unusual,” and rehabilitation is all the rage. It never
seems to occur to liberals that, by their pliant definition, their
imperiling of innocents by not bringing miscreants to heel is cruel
and unusual. Besides, I’d rather see our neighborhoods rehabilitated,
with the good walking boldly about and the evil cowering in fear. Let
them shudder at the thought of what will befall them if they give free
reign to their darker impulses.
But because we don’t have the intestinal fortitude to administer
severe punishment (liberals love the illusion that they’re
compassionate, you see, as they scream for abortion as if it’s a
birthright), we act like that teacher. Since we won’t right the
lawless few, we remove a right from the lawful many. We talk about
gun registrations, new limitations, or even, when the Utopians of
America are struck by a moment of honesty, gun seizures like those in
Australia.
This phenomenon is also evident in our attitude toward so-called
racial-profiling. While we consistently profile men – and white
people in certain contexts (I wrote a piece about this issue) – we’re
told that Muslims are immune from these harsh realities of life.
Thus, we are made to endure the burden of security measures that are,
in the spirit of compassion, applied to all of us so that no
politically-favored group will be singled out for additional, albeit
proportionate, attention.
Then, some have envisioned our making a transition into a cashless
society, a place where all transactions are conducted electronically.
For sure, with our increasing reliance upon credit/debit cards and
automatic payment systems linked to bank accounts, we are steadily
gravitating toward that state. And should we ever make that final
leap to a world of only virtual money, its advocates will proclaim it
as a victory for law and order, as all transactions would be visible.
Of course, this argument would lose much of its weight if law and
order already prevailed, secured the old-fashioned way.
What we lose sight of is that eschewing true punishment for the few
invites tyranny for the many. And punishment works, make no mistake
about it. Michael Fay, the boy who vandalized the Mercedes cars in
Singapore and received a caning in 1994, found that out the hard way.
Perhaps he can tell you why that city-state is virtually crime-free.
But the West is now too “civilized” to civilize the uncivilized. So
instead we’re slouching toward a state of complete governmental
surveillance, where Big Brother will keep an eye on all so it won’t
have to punish any.
In this vein and most ominously, the English are developing a camera
and computer system for their roads that will enable them to monitor
every vehicle journey embarked upon by every person.
The social-engineers say that this would make it impossible for
criminals to use the roads to facilitate their illegal enterprises.
I’m sure. Hey, why don’t we just place a computer-monitored video
camera in every room of every home, too? I mean, you have nothing to
worry about if you’re not doing anything wrong, right?
Now I know why England was so often the setting in those futuristic
stories about totalitarian societies that crush the human spirit.
Only, methinks the authors underestimated the technology that will be
at the disposal of the bureaucratic puppeteers.
As to the last point, the only limit to how far this can go is human
imagination. Perhaps mankind will endure to see the day when a
computer chip is implanted in every newborn’s brain. Maybe it will
relate information about a person’s mental state to a central computer
that will instantaneously flag anyone feeling anger or hatred. Then
the computer can send a signal that will trigger the release of
chemicals that create a state of blissful equanimity, thereby
forestalling violent encounters. Of course, this assumes that
“negative emotions” won’t have already been purged from man through
genetic-engineering.
Regardless of how fanciful my musings may or mayn’t be, we should be
mindful of the fact that people won’t tolerate lawlessness, the
anxiety of living with a perpetual feeling of danger. And man has
long exhibited a willingness to trade liberty for security. Thus,
domestic tranquility must be ensured and, barring a spiritual rebirth,
there are only two ways to meet that end: thoroughly punish the
lawless few or thoroughly monitor the hapless many. Assigning extra
rights to criminals means fewer rights for everyone else.
As it stands now, we are pursuing the latter course. Should this
continue, we may see a dark age that will place silicon shackles on
the mind of man. Then you will be watched, controlled, obedient, and
still perhaps, in some strange way, human.
Selwyn Duke lives in Westchester County, New York. He is a tennis professional, internet entrepreneur, and writer, whose works have appeared on various sites on the Internet, including Intellectual Conservative and Mensnet. A large number of his works can be found at his site, www.SelwynDuke.com. Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, at http://www.geocities.com/rational_argumentator/rc.html. Order Mr. Stolyarov's newest science fiction novel, Eden against the Colossus, in eBook form, here. You only pay $10.00, with no shipping and handling fees. You may also find free previews, descriptions and reviews of Eden against the Colossus at http://www.geocities.com/rational_argumentator/eac.html. |
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