Mass Surveillance has been a fear of the public conscience ever since George Orwell's novel 1984 (1949). Big Brother is the name of the entity that constantly watches the public and populace through what was essentially a computer screen in every citizen's home and in the stores and on the streets. There was virtually nowhere the characters could go to achieve any sense of privacy, and even worse, they'd grown used to it.
Prior to Edward Snowden's whistleblowing of the NSAs global surveillance programs, there were many people who had a finger pointed the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism incentive that allowed law enforcement agencies to acquire, act, and prevent planned attacks, as the primary force of Orwellian politics in modern America. Even being a younger teenager at the time, I remember every time something along the lines of mass surveillance came up, "Orwellian" was always the functional adjective of the sentence.
While some might look at 1984 and see the nightmare of totalitarian government, it does feel like people take the most visible level of what was happening in that novel and use it to paint certain real world things as much worse than they seem. It's important to remember that the citizens in Orwell's novel weren't protected from government criticism, whereas in a country like America freedom of speech is protected. I've said a lot about the most recent election outcome in this country - as have a lot of others - and nothing is happening to us, and there's very little reason to think anything will happen to us. That's because of the protections American Democracy affords to its citizens and is one of the biggest benefits of that system.
In short, the horror of Orwell's world is not the horror of this country.
Even in a post-Snowden world, I'm not all that scared or surprised that the government uses technology to spy on its citizens. I'm not surprised it uses it to keep an eye on potential dangers. What I don't see is any violation of the Bill of Rights in the country being done. If you are skeevy about web cameras, cover them. If you are worried about being spied on, don't use Facebook. There's a lot of things you can opt out of to keep your privacy, but there's no privacy on the internet and based on the huge amount of racist, threatening things that happen there, that's kind of a good thing.
I'm glad Snowden did what he did, but he really only allowed us to stop guessing at something that's been possible since nine years prior to his whistleblowing. And until something more substantial happens ...
... that's basically all she wrote about the situation. It's fear and paranoia and a huge self-importance that people place on themselves to think they'll be stolen away unknowingly into the night.
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So what are we looking for when it comes to the Mass Surveillance genre? Well, let's get what Orwell did when he wrote 1984. There is a genuine fear that people had of that world. There's a reason the word "Orwellian" stuck and get's brought up. Hell, one of the things that will be reviewed in the next post is a game literally named after the man himself.
So in short, the Mass Surveillance genre is conspiracy thriller mixed with government horror. There's something unthrilling about the very real possibility of existing without privacy. There's something very horrifying about not being safe inside your own home or your own country.
Part of the reason I wrote the first part of this post was so we could lay this out. The goal of a genre is to allow a range of emotion or a feeling painted with specific aspects. Mass Surveillance as a topic should absolutely be involved in the political conversation surrounding that topic, and ideally, if the goal is to say Mass Surveillance is a bad thing, then I should be horrified.
So with that in mind, part two of Mass Surveillance will be a review of the point-drag-and click adventure thriller, Orwell (2016).
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Prior to Edward Snowden's whistleblowing of the NSAs global surveillance programs, there were many people who had a finger pointed the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism incentive that allowed law enforcement agencies to acquire, act, and prevent planned attacks, as the primary force of Orwellian politics in modern America. Even being a younger teenager at the time, I remember every time something along the lines of mass surveillance came up, "Orwellian" was always the functional adjective of the sentence.
While some might look at 1984 and see the nightmare of totalitarian government, it does feel like people take the most visible level of what was happening in that novel and use it to paint certain real world things as much worse than they seem. It's important to remember that the citizens in Orwell's novel weren't protected from government criticism, whereas in a country like America freedom of speech is protected. I've said a lot about the most recent election outcome in this country - as have a lot of others - and nothing is happening to us, and there's very little reason to think anything will happen to us. That's because of the protections American Democracy affords to its citizens and is one of the biggest benefits of that system.
In short, the horror of Orwell's world is not the horror of this country.
 |
| Let's get American, y'all. |
Even in a post-Snowden world, I'm not all that scared or surprised that the government uses technology to spy on its citizens. I'm not surprised it uses it to keep an eye on potential dangers. What I don't see is any violation of the Bill of Rights in the country being done. If you are skeevy about web cameras, cover them. If you are worried about being spied on, don't use Facebook. There's a lot of things you can opt out of to keep your privacy, but there's no privacy on the internet and based on the huge amount of racist, threatening things that happen there, that's kind of a good thing.
I'm glad Snowden did what he did, but he really only allowed us to stop guessing at something that's been possible since nine years prior to his whistleblowing. And until something more substantial happens ...
... that's basically all she wrote about the situation. It's fear and paranoia and a huge self-importance that people place on themselves to think they'll be stolen away unknowingly into the night.
----
So what are we looking for when it comes to the Mass Surveillance genre? Well, let's get what Orwell did when he wrote 1984. There is a genuine fear that people had of that world. There's a reason the word "Orwellian" stuck and get's brought up. Hell, one of the things that will be reviewed in the next post is a game literally named after the man himself.
So in short, the Mass Surveillance genre is conspiracy thriller mixed with government horror. There's something unthrilling about the very real possibility of existing without privacy. There's something very horrifying about not being safe inside your own home or your own country.
Part of the reason I wrote the first part of this post was so we could lay this out. The goal of a genre is to allow a range of emotion or a feeling painted with specific aspects. Mass Surveillance as a topic should absolutely be involved in the political conversation surrounding that topic, and ideally, if the goal is to say Mass Surveillance is a bad thing, then I should be horrified.
So with that in mind, part two of Mass Surveillance will be a review of the point-drag-and click adventure thriller, Orwell (2016).
-----
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Also, consider donating to the blog! Your eyes are enough, but generosity and support can go a long way to making us both feel a lot better. Support your local artist (by local I mean Internet local.)
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