Tim May wrote...
"Even t.v. commercials are spreading the meme that Big Brother is our
friend."
Funny he should mention this. This very morning was watching the news and a
commerical came on for a local monitored Burglar alarm system. It featured a
Customed Superhero "Alarmo" (I think), going around the neighborhood
interrogating garbage men, mailmen, even kids and dogs and crap. Basically,
the guy was 'jokingly' depicted to have gone a little nutty and certainly
facsist.
And in the end there was an old couple looking on that LOOKED horrified but
basically called to see if Alarmo could work for them to.
That commercial was either written by a real nut or by someone who also
doesn't like the way things are headed.
-TD
From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
To: cypherpunks@lne.com
Subject: The Statism Meme Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 20:16:05 -0800
OK, so I watch a lot of t.v., or at least have t.v. dramas on a lot.
I'm struck by how many of them this year treat civil liberties as gone,
either as old-fashioned or as just plain ignorable.
* On the episodes of "Law and Order" (three different versions weekly,
often repeated on other nights), the cops routinely roust citizens, shop
owners, hotel clerks, etc. Warrants are the exception, and when they are
produced, they are merely waved in front of the targets. Whether this
represents reality is not the point--the point is that the Fourth, Fifth,
and Sixth Amendments are treated as technicalities to be violated at will.
Cops, prosecutors, and judges violating the Constitution are not
sanctioned. Those being violated never fight back, whether with shotguns
or their own lawyers.
* I just watched a new series called "Miracles." A planeload of passengers
is held without charges, without arrest warrants. One passenger is simply
taken away by the NSA because he may have information of use to them
someday. Again, maybe not plausible, but this shows the meme Americans are
becoming conditioned to accept.
* On one often execrable show called "Judging Amy," "Child Protection"
workers are shown bursting into homes and apartments, sans warrants of
course. One memorable line was "Yes, we can enter your home without a
warrant...because we're not the police."
* Even t.v. commercials are spreading the meme that Big Brother is our
friend. G.E. has one such commercial where doctors are told: "Wouldn't it
be wonderful if you could just type in a name and see every medical
treatment your patient has ever received?...with G.E.'s new software,
you'll be able to." (paraphrase of their actual commercial)
* "Hate speech" is presented on these cop and lawyer shows as being ipso
facto illegal. "These people think the Constitution gives them the freedom
to spew hate."
* Nearly all of the programs present the Internet as a place which needs
government control. The lawyers and cops editorialize (actually, the script
writers, of course) about how the "Wild West" atmosphere is a haven for
terrorists, gun nuts, pornographers, and Islamic militants. Various plots
on the court shows have involved ISPs being forced to spy on customers.
* "9/11 changed everything" is heard at least weekly. The judges cite it to
justify unconstitutional measures, the prosecutors use it to justify
warrantless searches and coerced admissions.
Yes, I understand this is all fiction. Well, some of the scripts are based
on actual events, including coerced confessions, warrantless searches,
"sneak and peek" wiretaps, concentration camps in Cuba, etc. That so many
of these popular programs have themes as I've described tells us what to
expect.
The statism meme is growing under hothouse conditions.
--Tim May, Corralitos, California
Quote of the Month: "It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes;
perhaps there are no true libertarians in times of terrorist attacks."
--Cathy Young, "Reason Magazine," both enemies of liberty.
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Tyler Durden