Imagine if surveillance tech goes off the rails and the police can
monitor every move you make and every word you say. A true panopticon.
What would happen to crime with respect to stopping it?
No place to hide: Well, it makes every law
enforceable. Reason being is that we cannot hide from these cameras and
microphones. So if you are in an accident, there is no need for your
statement and the other involved party as they simply have to watch the video
of the accident occurring to know who is at fault. Shoplifting, forget
it. They will see how much you stuff into your pockets. Death
threats? The microphone heard you and thus police show up at the door.
Smoking some weed, well they could even possibly smell that with drug
sniffers to tell the difference between a cigarette and other illegal
substances. Hence no one could commit a crime without being caught which means
zero crime from regular people. But it can get out of control.
Examples of it gone wrong: Two examples I can think of is hate
speech, and political criticism. Hate speech as I am sure you will agree
is distasteful to say the least. But despite it being a part of your
freedom of speech, the government will be able to hear it, and then fine you
for it. And this means any form of speech deemed hateful, including
saying someone is poor or off the cuff comments like that person looks
impoverished. Yes they may deem these innocent terms as racist, but if
you look at the history of words like illegal alien, migrant, and similar,
those depending on the times are deemed hateful as well. And this can
extend to criticism of government if we are not careful. Thus, free speech,
including criticizing the president can become a crime.
Conclusion: While the benefits are great, the
level of abuse is greater. This gives too much power to one group in
society over all other groups. So if you know your history, this means the
death of democracy and freedom as a whole. So keep an eye out for abuses,
for if we do not, we may suffer under the yoke of oppression.
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