I’d like to share with you a thought I’ve had ever since i heard that we’re all caught on CCTV, on average, a staggering 300 times a day!
I call it ’ The freedom Paradox ‘
“The more freedom a country enjoys, then the more policing and policy it requires to maintain this freedom”
Example No1 : Freedom of speech – in a democracy we defend the right to speak our minds freely, yet we openly condemn and punish, those that offend others with what they say!
18th century philosopher Voltaire famously said “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
He understands the need for people to be able to speak their minds without fear of retribution, yet in the todays free world democracies we constantly hear about how it’s wrong to say this or that, for fear of offending others.
Example 2 : Being caught on camera 300 times a day is a breach of our rights to privacy, practically rendering privacy an indoor activity. Now i know that the obvious response to this argument is, that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear! But actually i don’t like this level of surveillance and wonder how much privacy i actually do have in my own home!
Your watching Big Brother on TV, whilst Big Brother is watching you on CCTV, how ironic!
With the amazing advances in technology i don’t doubt for one minute that these CCTV cameras will be upgraded to provide even more sophisticated recording ability, stronger lenses with more detail and sound, infra red and god knows what else. So conceivably, they’ll be able to look through your walls and watch you in your own home, this all in the name of security and freedom.
I find this level of surveillance offensive, and our Grandfathers before us fought wars to protect our freedom and all we can do is, liberally and literally, throw it all away!
With more and more restrictions and laws being dreamt up by governments you can see that in a relatively short period of time, everything will be considered offensive to someone, and that our supposedly free democracies will have descended into totalitarian societies, devoid of freedom, living in fear and paranoia.
You cannot legislate for every controversial or offensive situation, to do so will erode democracy and freedom, sometimes we just have to apply some common sense!
If you have any more examples of this paradox or want to have your say on this subject, then i’d like to hear what you think; please leave a comment.
Respect and Peace
@dam.
The Grape Vine