Landmarker

 

 

 

 

- BIG BROTHER -

 

There is an island off the west coast of Scotland called Jura. Little happens there, and by British standards it is regarded as remote. It was a favoured retreat of celebrated author George Orwell, who wrote ‘1984’ Today, even on Jura you would not be beyond the clutches nor the beady eye of this controlling Government who seem hell bent on monitoring and interfering with almost every aspect of our daily lives.

From micro-chips on wheely bins & on the spot fines for putting the wrong rubbish in the wrong receptacle, to what food you give your children and targets for daily portions of fruit and vegetables.

Don’t dare to be plump or the wheels within Westminster will grind down your self esteem in an effort to sacrifice your ego on the altar of healthy eating.

In addition to these rather routine and unexciting controls and ‘helpful guidance’ we may have forgotten plans for road tolling, which could soon be rolled out nationwide. A tracking device to monitor your every mile to combine with mobile phone records which can locate you to within fifty metres whenever you make a call. Although the law abiding allegedly have nothing to fear, who knows what laws will be passed tomorrow, or the next day ? This amounts to a blank cheque of subservience from the people to discredited politicians.

Now we are also lectured upon our choice of car by Government lackeys.. Anyone exercising free choice in the purchase of a gas guzzling monster is seen as the anti-Christ, bringing the end of the world ever nearer. No matter that they pay through the nose in extra taxes via the fuel pump. Now it’s planned to levy charges for parking outside ones own house! I always thought this is what a road fund Licence was for. When you get that leviathan moving, or even if you’re a Granny in a Micra the roadside speed cameras will soon be augmented by strategically placed models overlooking box junctions or ‘no right turn signs’ Smile you’re on cash-cow camera. “thirty five in a thirty” that’ll be sixty quid and some points Madam., or more probably, Sir.

The 2011 census is now being prepared and will be more intrusive than ever. Questions on income, which will have to be answered by law., and other personal information like, how many nights do you spend at home per week! A far cry from a simple headcount of the populace don’t you think? Test questions will be put to the public on May 12th next year. I wait with bated breath!

The ‘Police Superintendents Association’ is now calling for every new born baby to be DNA sampled. They want a DNA database of the entire population. Whatever your view on this, and it might be a relaxed view, just what faith do you have in the ability of Government to make any I.T. project actually work as intended? Remember the Child Support Agency? Remember the Passport Office Fiasco? The vetting of School workers a couple of summers ago? These previous fiascos are all dwarfed by the prospect of a national DNA database.

When the keys of DNA science are held by so few scientists and specialists just where are the safeguards? Many assume DNA evidence is 100% safe and conclusive. I’m afraid I do not. This is surely just a recipe for lazy policing.

What about our foreign visitors? Are they to be swabbed as they pass through passport control? They number some ninety million. One wonders if the queues might put them off our seemingly irresistible little island.

Closed Circuit T.V. cameras now feature on many town centre street corners and any number of commercial premises. Possibly the most vivid confirmation of Orwell’s nightmare vision nightmare, which is just a couple of decades late in arriving. Yes, they can help in fighting crime but they are also abused by voyeuristic operators and I just find them sinister instruments of intrusion.

We are told we have ‘freedom of speech’ but when it comes to matters of race or religion we have to tread ever so carefully. And don’t you dare criticise, much less condemn Homosexuals or distribute anti-gay literature or the Police will be on to you. Meanwhile don’t bother calling them if your house is burgled, unless you’ll be in a week on Monday when they'll call round...in the meantime have a crime number!

This brave new world of control, surveillance and ‘guidance’ has all the hallmarks of the original ‘Big Brother’ . We have allowed ourselves to be walked unerringly to the edge of an abyss. Yet another milestone might come in the form of Identity Cards. Yes, it’s planned to give everyone in Britain a biometric based card with yet another massive database to back it up. The many billions of pounds this will cost will obviously come from long suffering taxpayers who will have lived the majority of their lives quite happily without the damn things! What might we have next? The micro-chipping of infants, or pre-school tagging, just in case little John or Jill go off the ‘rails’ at some point. If you sense your kids need some discipline to make them toe the line don’t dare smack them, or if you do then make sure there is no visible mark. Social Services will whisk them away from you before your very tearful eyes.

I am just a layman, an interested observer. I see freedoms I once took for granted taken away from us with increasing rapidity. All of this control is coming from a Government happy to deploy our troops in foreign fields in the name of ‘freedom’ A Government whose first duty to its people is the provision of security. Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel less secure than ever before. This mindset, shared by millions is the gateway for the control freaks and their minions to foist this micro-management onto all of our lives.

This depressing scenario reduces us all. The watchers and the watched. Where will it all end ? I fear we are merely at the beginning. The watchers are in control, yet who is watching them?

There is NO escape ! Even Jura is out.

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