“There’s No Telescreen!”

Late last week, an aspiring author asked a question in an authors’ group on Facebook, something along these lines: How will the government track us in the future?

Answers were varied, from ubiquitous smart phones and video cameras in public places, to insidious wiretaps wherever one might go.

My answer was this: We’ll self-report, checking in at every opportunity via technology we already have. The rebels will be the ones who opt out of checking in.

Then I read this today at aeon.co:

[Orwell] couldn’t have known how eager we’d be to shrink down our telescreens and carry them with us everywhere we go, or how readily we’d sign over the data we produce to companies that fuel our need to connect.

Spoopy.

Henry Cowles, author of this piece and assistant professor of history at the University of Michigan, goes on to say perhaps Orwell knew more than he let on.

He also mentions this, a quote I’d never heard before: “Who said ‘The customer is always right’? The seller—never anyone but the seller.” I’m trying to find the “wise man” who said this, but little luck so far.

Nevertheless . . .

If we enter a surveillance state – if we’re not there already – it’s going to be because we were willing to walk through that door on our own.