Marc Allinson: Big Brother is watching YOU
Every little rule and law that the government brings in, in itself, seems to be of little concern, such as the newly-proposed national database of personal license holders, or the right of police to stop and search without cause.
But, when you look at the fact that we can no longer meet in numbers in any public place without being watched by CCTV, every thing we do is recorded and analysed, the government takes most of our money in taxes, and then generously spends it on whatever it likes, you begin to see that the state is gradually creeping into every aspect of our lives.
We can, for example, no longer protest outside parliament, a long-held right and one of the ways in which the Suffragettes managed to get the vote for women. Town centres and other public areas are being equipped with surveillance equipment, some with voice recorders so that they can monitor our conversations. Pubs - privately-owned properties - are now being forced to record the actions of their customers, and have any data available for the police at their whim.
It was also written that the "party" in 1984 was constantly at war with one nation or another and used reports and threats of spies and terrorists as rationale for their clampdown on civil liberties - sound familiar?
They used statistics that could not be proved and percentage increases in commodities which could not related to anything tangible rather than genuine straight figures so as to send out the message that things were going well - 65% increase in the number of helicopters anyone? - 65% increase from what number?
They would not allow party members to meet anywhere in any numbers, as that could create dissent, no pubs, no community centres, no post offices…….
You could be stopped in the street and asked your business, and to produce identification papers. This is one of the proposals for the ID card that our current government wants.
I'm sorry if this seems a little deep, but I have started to feel a kinship with our Citizen Winston Smith. His life is ruled by a party who have little concern for the individual, who feel the need to rule every aspect of his life, from the moment he wakes up, with mass organised exercises, to the rationed nutritionally-balanced but tasteless food, right through to the time his lights get turned off at night.
I can see that all the small changes made over the last 12 years are adding up, whether by conscious design, or by subconscious desire of a party who were largely members of the British communist party before joining Labour.
Maybe I should stop reading these books, they make me think too much…..
