--- "Marvin Long, Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Thu, 18 Jul 2002, Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > In _The Transparent Society_ Brin 'foresees' two > > cities, both with cameras everywhere, but in one > it is > > only the police and 'Establishment' who have final > > oversight, while in the other, any citizen can > access > > any camera - rendering the government accountable > for > > its actions. (So those citizens aren't really > spies as > > much as eyes, gossipy and potentially overzealous, > > perhaps, but they too are accountable.) > > I loved that book, but I'm troubled by what strikes > me as an omission...I > find it hard to believe that in a culture with > ubiquitous cameras there > would not an elite merchandise of countermeasures > available to the very > rich and employed by the state for the sake of > "national security" and by > the rich simply because they can afford it. I'd be > stunned by any state > that didn't erect barriers to observation for the > sake of its agents and > dominant political parties. Everyone can be seers, > but there would still > be a class of the unseen. > Haven't finished it yet, but yes - I think that there will _always_ be an elite, with the 'ultimate' power; I hope that they can be held accountable for the majority of their actions. I don't think that Brin likes the prospects of either proposal, but has chosen 'transparency' as the lesser of two ills.
We'll have to depend on those "social T-cells" who make it their business to know _others'_ business, and to gleefully tell the rest of us. And watchers for the watchers...the immune cascade is a pretty good analogy, actually. Bore 'Em to Death Maru __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com
