the term 'big brother' gets bandied around a lot these days and has unfortunately lost a lot of the menace it used to have when it was seen purely in the context of orwell's masterpiece, 1984. still, there are times when it really encapsulates the concept of a government's monitoring of its citizens that's gone beyond what is reasonable and become a serious breach of their right to privacy. the proposal of the UK government's home office to develop a database containing details of every phone call made, every text message sent, every email sent and all time spent on the internet by every individual in the UK clearly falls into the traditional 'big brother' realm. it is an ominous and frightening prospect.
we're all aware of the threat of terrorism but i personally believe that the biggest threat terrorism poses to our way of life and the values we hold dear is the way our governments are using it as an excuse to strip away our freedoms. unless we fight to preserve our rights, things like this will be just the tip of the iceberg.
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2 comments:
Carmen Lawrence wrote a book a couple of years ago called "Fear and Politics" talking very much about the same principle.
When we are told to live in fear we will do so, because most people don't know they can live any differently.
couldn't agree more (meant for Dave but applies to Gareth's comment too!)
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