Two Stalinists got together in London to promote the brave new world of saturation surveillance. They say that people just love the grid of cameras recording every one of their day-to-day-activities.
"We are under surveillance all the time," says Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City. "If Ken Livingstone [London’s mayor] didn’t do it they would try to run him out of town on a rail. People want to have security cameras."
Well, of course they do! Just like they want you, Mayor Bloomberg, to tell them what they can eat and what they can drink. They love it when you order them not to smoke, order them to report to the doctor, order them to behave themselves, and order them to be happy.
Every piece of intrusive, Big Brother legislation Bloomberg dictates was wanted by the people, so he says. Of course they clamor for more closed-circuit cameras that see, hear, and in London, also bark out orders to the passers-by.
To New Yorkers who object to transforming their city into a closed-circuit prison camp, Bloomberg snapped, "Get real. It’s just ridiculous people who object to using technology." (links: original – stored)
Such is the mentality of a man for whom "health and safety" are not only the paramount values, they are the only values. What is technologically possible sets the agenda and those who value privacy and civility are "ridiculous."
Technology has value in its place. George Orwell was the least ridiculous of men. "Ridiculous" is far too mild a term for Reichsführer Bloomberg.
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