Civil Liberties and George Orwell: Could the Government Become Big Brother?

You can feel the prying eyes bearing down the back of you neck, but you're alone. After a quick double take you turn back to your work, but you still feel like someone is watching you. Each move you make scrutinized by an unseen eye, waiting to pounce on your slightest misstep.

This feeling that someone, somewhere, somehow is watching you is not an uncommon discomfort. At one point in time everyone has felt this uneasy sensation of paranoia. This sensation pales in comparison to what George Orwell described in his book 1984. Orwell reveals through the eyes of his protagonist, Winston Smith, what it is really like for every aspect of a person life to monitored and patrolled by authoritarian power. For years readers and critics alike have been perplexed and horrified by Orwell's tale of the demise of liberty and privacy. Many are quick to dismiss any possibility of Orwell's prophecies coming to life consoling one another confidently saying to among themselves, "Certainly this could not happen in America, not in my country, not in this democracy."

Not everyone shares this view. This can be seen by the variety of conspiracy theories that have surfaced over the years. Even more so since the NSA phone tapping scandal. One man named Thierry Meyssan has even gone as far as claiming that our government planned the September 11th attacks in his book, The Frightening Fraud. He is not the only person who does not trust the government, renowned journalist, I.F. Stone is quoted to saying, "Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed." Fifty-seven years have past since its publication. With each passing year the possibility of our world becoming a clone of Orwell's grows. Today more than ever the possibilities of his story coming true is even more and more real through the advancement, availability and affordability in surveillance technology.

We live in a time in which technology is advancing every single day. Each day we plunge deeper and deeper into a digital age of constant change. Since the invention of the microchip in 1958 the electronic industry has experienced unprecedented growth. Every day we as consumers are bombarded with advertisement encouraging us to purchase the newest, fastest, and smallest gizmo on the market. With constant upgrades and new products becoming available it is no surprise that the field of surveillance has experienced enormous growth since Orwell's time.

The method of surveillance described by George Orwell is remarkably simple yet effective. Monitor every aspect of a citizen's life using telescreens, hidden cameras and microphones. Logistically this would be a nightmare to monitor and service such a large surveillance system. To fill the gap government turned to the children, encouraging their young minds to turn in their parents to the thought police.

Today the possibilities reach far beyond what even Orwell imagined. Your classic security cameras now come in numerous shapes and sizes with enormous capabilities in regard to resolution. Cameras, thanks to these advancements could easily go above and beyond the specification of telescreens as described in 1984. Through the years Hollywood has introduced us to several other mediums of surveillance. Devices such as pressure sensors, motion sensors and heat sensors have been a favorite of the motion picture industry in recent years. Even with all the capabilities that these technologies provide there is one recent development that makes Orwell's Big Brother look like a blind watchman.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the latest advancement that strike fear in those who take Orwell's world seriously. RFID technology is use to identify people or objects by emitting radio waves that can be automatically identified. While the basic technology has been around for some time, RFID is relatively unknown to most people. A Big Brother type organization could use RFID transmitters, implanted under the skin of its citizens, to store data and transmit that data to any person or persons with a scanner. The transmitter would then inform the powers-that-be about each person's whereabouts and habits.

While this technology possesses possible benefits for mankind, it has the possibly of monstrous repercussions. RFID chips can hold a large amount of data which may include, but is not limited to; the person's name, date of birth, social security and location. A governing body could easily decree that each person at birth be implanted with such a chip enabling them to monitor every aspect of their lives. Where they have been and what they have done will be at their finger tips.

Still more troubling is how easily the government could implement a plan to monitor our lives. Orwell's novel does not explain how the surveillance came to be, just that it was and had been for sometime. For a real world Big Brother to come into being in the United States the government would need to take possession of a great deal of equipment to monitor the nearly 300 million people in the United States, but it could be done. Accessing the latest technology without causing a civil uproar would not be very difficult, but it would take time. The government controls the patent office and will be the first to know about any new breakthroughs in the world of surveillance. How many things do we use today in our lives that the government has had a lock on for years? Citizens only know about the technology that their government wants them to know about. They could prevent civil unrest by slowly introducing elements of Big Brother quietly one at a time to our society. If you throw a frog into boiling water he will jump out. If you place the frog in water at room temperature and slowly increase the temperature he will sit there until he is boiled alive.

Of all the possible customers of the surveillance industry the government would be at the top of any CEO's target consumer list. Much of today's surveillance technology is developed by or specifically for government use. In essence the mass majority of the market is directed towards our government. The same government that has set aside $875 million dollars this year alone to spend on surveillance related security. How long until the security portion of the budget drifts solely into the realm of surveillance? The technology is available to it is just a matter of when.

The one thing that could hinder the implementation of such a program would most definitely be the cost. Everywhere you look electronics are getting cheaper. DVD players that once cost hundreds of dollars can now be purchased for as low as twenty dollars. The surveillance industry is no exception. Most surveillance equipment would still be considered pricey the government would be buying in bulk thus reducing the price. Additional expenses would include the manpower required to maintain the equipment and monitor the incoming data. The price would still be outrageous for any one person to pay. However, keep in mind that the government is an organization with an annual budget that has gone as high as $2.57 trillion and is eager to do business with the lowest bidder.

Cutting edge technology would not be necessary in every aspect of creating a surveillance network as broad as that described by Orwell. Using existing technology in conjunction with existing hardware has always been a government favorite. Even NASA arguably the governments most technologically advanced agency routinely ties name brand systems such as Dell with its own supercomputers. By using what they have with the newest in surveillance equipment they would be able to create a sufficient network.

For the desired affect the government would not even have to monitor every aspect of it citizen's lives. All they would need is enough eyes in enough places to instill the feeling of prying eyes. As Orwell describes in his novel not every home had a telescreen and there is enough of a gap in surveillance for Julia and Winston to attempt their love affair, but there is enough to discourage most people from rebelling against the Party and to eventually catch those who do. To exist, Big Brother does not need to have the highest grade technology everywhere, just functional technology in most places.

Finally, it worth noting while this fate is not imminent, but it is a real threat. In Orwell's time the enemies of democratic nations were communist, today our enemies are terrorist. While much has changed in the last fifty-seven years we can not forget what history has taught us or what the present is telling us. We must remain vigilant and make sure that our government is watching out for us and not watching over us.