I Met the Enemy … and He Isn’t Me
Now that I’m a fugitive, life has become, needless to say, a great deal edgier. To be hunted means sharpening those lazy senses, sniffing the incoming wind, staying hyper alert. Colton Harris-Moore could give seminars once he’s released from his federal playpen. He managed to elude the dogs for years without leaving his backyard. I can tell you this from my present location thousands of miles from home, that is no easy feat in post-1984 America where every phone call is documented and stored, every credit card transaction is accessible, every license plate is tracked on traffic cameras and most stores have video monitoring.
We’re wired into the Hive and the folks who weren’t traumatized by George Orwell’s vision of a future where privacy is a thoughtcrime take it on faith inter-connectedness is desirable. What have they got to fear if they’ve got nothing to hide? Put It Out There. Facebook, Linked-In, social databases, grocery store card swipes. Zuckerberg believes in Total Transparency as the Ultimate Good. We don’t live in post-Orwell so much as we live in post-Zuckerboy. God may be omniscient, but the government and Amazon certainly are.
I have plenty to hide, myself included now. If you don’t, join a cult. Stay logged in to Facebook 24/7. Spill your guts. I don’t care. But don’t drag the rest of us heathens up to the Kool-Aid stand. Freedom is the right to be left alone. The right not to be tracked. Not to be watched or listened to or followed constantly.
The recorded voice you hear that sweetly informs you “This call may be monitored for your protection,” is a bald-faced lie. It WILL be monitored and it won’t protect You. Facial recognitions, crowd monitoring, surveillance cameras, NSA phone tracking, GPS locators — all linked up in vast computer servers. You think they’re for your protection>? I may be a fugitive now, but hey! wake up! You’ll be one soon. A state that takes your privacy doesn’t trust you. And I’ve learned NEVER to trust anyone or anything that doesn’t trust me. They’re the ones with something to hide.
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