Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve9930
Amazing how fiction can predict trends in society. I'm glad I will not survive to see it happen.
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Another element of 1984, that we have not touched upon is the pervasive surveillance of the populace by the government.
In 1984 every residence had a big screen television which had the capability of allowing the government to see into the room. We are seeing a step towards that condition with the fact that the new "Smart Television" sets are subject to having people outside your home
see and hear what is going on
in your house.
In addition, the Amazon corporation has acknowledged that their "Alexa" (or Echo) home appliance control system is capable of
hearing every conversation that takes place within earshot. And,
every conversation is recorded. Their earlier claim that the system was activated only when you said the alerting code word (Alexa or Echo) and then asked a question or gave an order was not true.
And, by now we all know that video cameras are present everywhere in public and private locations. This comes to light when there is a crime, a terrorist attack, or other noteworthy event takes place, and video becomes available.
There are video cameras all over The Villages. In addition, more and more police cars (and private cars) have dash cameras, and police are starting to wear personal cameras.
Also, the National Security Agency has acknowledged that they collect "metadata" that indicates the calling number and called number of every telephone in the United States. In the case of representatives of foreign governments, the actual conversation is recorded, often sweeping American citizens into the collection.
Perhaps you don't know that there are programs which allow the government, and hackers, to turn on your cell telephone when it is turned off, and listen and watch what is going on.
It used to be that if you stepped foot outside your house you were being recorded. Now you may be recorded while you are inside your house. The same applies to many computer cameras, which is why people now put a piece of tape over the camera lens on their computer.
This is one prediction of 1984 that has come to pass. Big Brother is watching you.