"non-stop distractions of the most fascinating nature are deliberately used as instruments of policy, for the purpose of preventing people from paying too much attention to the realities of the social and political situation" - Aldous Huxley
The holiday period for me brought with it some stark realizations. People these days have become so entrenched in themselves and I mean aside from the obvious narcissistic indicators provided by "selfie-sticks". We continue to surround ourselves with people of similar interests, thus minimizing conflict of opinion or conflict of interest for better or worse. I hold certain opinions of things, like everyone else, they were formed completely by the literature or media I surround myself with.
Living in an age of mass media, we are blessed with the privilege of choosing what media to consume. Normally we choose that which closely mirrors our ideology or alternatively just all out indulge in the dumb crap we find entertaining. How often do you sit alone and ponder the effect it all has on you?
I feel, in increasingly smaller groups, we are shutting off everyone or anything that contradicts some of our loosely held beliefs. It won't be long before we reach a point of self absolution in which we all think we are right and all our actions are justified based on our own beliefs. And those who are interested in stuff that lies on the edge of the "commonly accepted" ideas are tin-foil hat wearing maniacs.
I find mass surveillance interesting. Thankfully it has been getting more attention in recent times in the mass media. As a result I feel perfectly comfortable openly blogging about it. I would not have before, it's funny how things change. Once deemed a crazy "tin-foil hat" wearing maniac by some peers, now I'm someone who "knows" something. I've had friends openly call me a conspiracy theorist before and some people I know that still do.
Recent revelations of mass surveillance have people confused of the implications. A large proportion of stuff you do online in Ireland is being monitored by the GCHQ. We are talking ALL types of web traffic. This includes apps you use, what you watch, what you download, what you read, where, how and who you communicate with, services you are signed up for etc. The actual documents that were leaked are available as a zip file. These account for a very large percentage of internet traffic in Ireland. Using the non-logic of the politicians pushing for more counter-terrorist surveillance against them. "If you're not doing anything wrong, why keep it a secret". Most people choose not to care about this stuff because to them it has no obvious direct impact on their life, which being honest is a fair conclusion. Most people feel it's beyond their control.
Just for a second imagine the situation in North korea, a place where all the media is government controlled and monitored, including whatever airwaves and newspapers exist. The government have a say almost completely in what the masses consume. One can only feel sorry for the brainwashed poverty struck people who "know" no better. It is also easy to imagine how such things might be introduced in a more modern, online, first world society. Perhaps under the guise of "internet censorship". All done under the notion of trying to tackle genuine issues through blocking, but when you start blocking sites such as that of the Chaos Computer Club, I'd begin questioning the validity of the claims.
The problem that many people seem to not get about mass surveillance, is that governments change and so do the powers that be. If we allow it now, won't it be too late to fight by time the next Hitler or Kim Jong-un strolls along and gets elected. We are setting ourselves up to be dominated in the future. I personally don't trust our voting masses, I repeat this etiquette every time I look at the plonkers in charge.
If we, the technically aware, can't traverse the "interest gap" and get this message of the dangers of mass surveillance across to the masses, we are utterly fucked. It's so hard to make people care when they gladly spend most of their time online on facebook browsing the "Top 10 farts of the millennium" from the endless pit of clickbait sites. Technology opens so many doors to people in places, but it seems to have the complete opposite effect on some.
We do live in the age of "smart phones/tvs and dumb people". Where the fuck do we go from here? I hope you at least finished reading this post before X-factor started.