I am a BIG follower of things Sci-Fi and “Action / Adventure” pop-culture, and to me one of the best new shows in the last several years is a drama called: “Person of Interest“, which can be viewed on CBS on Thursday nights at 9:00pm. The show began airing in 2011 and has won the People’s Choice Award for Best New Drama. …And yes, it is all THAT!!
As someone who is extremely conservative on matters of personal freedoms and the Bill of Rights, the show has an initial “objection” factor which is normally (for my tastes) not easily overcome. Essentially, the show’s premise is that post-9/11, the government has built a super-surveillance system to look for terrorist activity and/or threats to national security. In order to do this, the system monitors EVERYTHING – phones, emails, private and public video surveillance cameras – everything. The system doesn’t generate extensive results, though. All it provides is a Social Security Number (SSN) for somebody (NSA, FBI, CIA) to look at (into) to find the problem/issue. This is referred to as “actionable information” in the series.
Now the creator of the system has limited the actionable information for the government to only terrorist or national security issues, but the system is fully capable of generating actionable info about other types of crimes, too. In the case of the weekly series, the info is about people who are either going to be murdered or who are about to commit murder. The system doesn’t say which is which – so the “heroes” never know if they are helping the victims or the perpetrators.
The series has two main heroes: the computer nerd who invented the system and the bad-ass who has to be the muscle for the nerd (and the system). There are also two other minor-heroes – cops who are drawn into the vigilante (hero) fight against evil.
Now, IF you can set aside the personal liberties issues, this is a terrific show. It has action – fights and explosions, drama – nick of time rescues and last second escapes, great acting with multiple surprise plot twists (always one and sometimes two an episode), and, of course, great technology – surveillance (duh). And the kicker is there is a slowly evolving relationship amongst the four characters which serves as the over-arching story line for the series. All in all, it is a truly interesting and entertaining series.
What’s the problem then?
It is supposed to be fiction… There is not supposed to be (in America) government surveillance of ALL citizens at all times. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Well, we may still have them, but now we also have the “God” system, too. If you don’t believe me try reading this article in Wired Magazine (April 2012): “Inside The Matrix“.
It appears the NSA (and all the other alphabet-soup agencies) are building exactly the super-God system depicted in fiction by this series.
Now, if I WERE the paranoid, conspiracy theorist kind of person, I would say TV is being used to show how such a system “could” be used to benefit society beyond fighting terrorism. Since I’m not that kind of person, I’ll just put it down to a “happy coincidence” that TV is being used to make the system palatable to conservative civil libertarians like me.
The only problem is, while I’m happy to see a God-system on TV, I don’t actually want such a system to exist in reality as I have too little confidence in the human nature of government security bureaucracies. Call me old fashioned and naive, but I still believe in innocent until proven guilty and restrictions on government regarding unlimited searches of my personal / private interests without probable cause and a search warrant. Like I said, I guess I’m just an old fashioned conservative about some things.
If we are all inside the box, can the real “1984” (Orwell’s) be far away?
By the way, last night was the season finale and it was SUPERB! I can’t wait for the series to come out on DVD. Gotta have, gotta have, gotta have it!!
We are already in the box. They always use media to familiarize the population with what they are going to do to us next. They have been doing that for years and years. Big Brother moved in a long time ago and is alive and well in the cameras on our corners and the chips in our computers, phones and even our cars. We are watched constantly. We are monitored and they are not controlling what you do in and out of your work site. Insurance companies do not allow you to drink or smoke outside of work. If you refuse to have your mouth swabbed (DNA) to see if your are LYING about not smoking they take money out of your pay check each month. Employees are ratting out their co workers, if they see them eating fattening food on weekends, etc. People are getting harassed at home to go in for tests or join gyms or loose weight or be fired. If you refuse to have flue shots (that do nothing but make you sick and we don’t really know what’s in them) that make a fortune for the drug company and do absolutely nothing to protect you from the flu, you can be FIRED. Those are invasive medical procedures that people are being FORCED to have if they want to keep their job. We have seen memos where the insurance companies have said that they can get employees to do anything and keep them in line. Employees are forced to have money taken out of their paychecks if they do not agree to comply with insurance company rules. You must have a doctor’s excuse to not have the flu shot. A person who works for the flu shot makers said they the shots don’t do anything at all. Some people get sick from them. One woman’s eyesight has permanently been affected. THEY MAKE MONEY OFF OF US and if you want to keep your job you must comply. Random drug testing and mouth swabbing for people who HAVE NEVER SHOWN THE SLIGHTEST REASON TO HAVE THIS DONE. Employees who have been at their job for 20 years are being fired for non compliance. Our freedom is a thing of the past. We are herd animals and the 1% and power mongers can do what they wish. No one seems willing to fight back. They are demoralized and the feeling of hopelessness that the media spews out 24 hours a day is doing it’s job. People have given up and that’s exactly what the plan has been all along. Easily managed herd, looking for an evil shepherd to tend the flock. Blah.
Hi Gigi,
I guess I struck a nerve with that post!
First off, thanks for clicking on an “old” post and then commenting. You are only my second such commenter. Second, wow! What company do you work for that they can get away with DNA swabbing you for cigarette smoking. I’ve never heard of that one before. I do agree that the government (and some big companies) can keep track of our every move. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but I believe we’re very close. I do believe there is a difference between ability to do something and actually doing it. I think we’re only a couple of years away from the government actually doing this (real-time surveillance of the people), certainly less than a decade. The questions will remain: will we do it and what can we expect from our government when we are doing it? Unfortunately, only time will tell.
Are your comments based on personal experience, articles you’ve read or stories other people you know and trust have told you? I’ve never heard of any of these things so I’d love to see your sources.
I do agree with your fundamental point, we are being “cowed” so we will be a compliant herd – too willing to sacrifice freedom in exchange for a false sense of temporary security. As I’ve said many times on this blog: “Security is an illusion.”
Thanks again for taking the time to leave such an impassioned comment!
Kevin