20Dec04

Surveillance:

Yesterday on CNN, there was a report of the profusion of surveillance cameras in recent times. Millions of them in stores, casinos, parking lots , government buildings, busy intersections, etc. In their typical shallow, incredulous way CNN reporters cited a "survey" in which peop le were asked if all those cameras made them "feel more secure." If they had ask ed me, I would have replied, "more than what?" =80=9CFeelings,=E2=80=9D not reality, is all that matters to grasseaters at CNN and most of the media. That is why they are incapable o f any species of objectivity. To them, we can all just "feel our pro blems away."

To the best of my knowledge, no camera has ever prevented a violent crime.

The naive assumption is that a real person, with a telephone, is actually watching all those screens. Pretty unlikely. A local prosecutor stated th at cameras provide valuable evidence, so that offenders can be identified and tracked down. "That way," said he, =80=9Cvictims can hav e their day in court." I'm sure that makes potential victims "feel" much better, but i t strikes me that the only "victim's right" that has any importan ce for most is the RIGHT NOT TO BE A VICTIM!

The idea that we can elude personal responsibility for our own well being b y "feeling safe" because of cameras, or any other community gi mmick, is delusional. Thinking that someone else cares about us more than we care ab out ourselves is patently ridiculous, the domain of self-deceptive grasseaters, not men.

Fear is shamefully used by sleazy politicians, and their media allies, to manipulate the public and keep themselves in power. Leftist politicians an d bureaucrats yearn for a fearful and cowardly population, because such people will automatically look to government to solve all their problems and make a ll their decisions. Fearless, magnificent, armed, and independent citizens, w ho proudly look after themselves, don't want, in fact, resent, governme nt " snoopervision." We Americans did not descend from fearful men!

In the end, CNN assures us that we don't need individual liberty. N o, we just need more cameras!

/John