I used to think surveillance was a good thing. It would catch the 'baddies' and enhance my freedom. And if I was doing nothing wrong then I had nothing to fear.
And in your own mind you do go about your daily business 'doing nothing wrong'. You don't steal, you don't hurt anyone deliberately, you don't do anything that could remotely be described as 'wrong' in your own head or indeed in the eyes of the law. You go about your daily life; a good citizen with your family at the centre of your actions, disseminating cheer and good will at every turn.
But what if, out of curiosity and boredom, you once visited a porn site online? What if you had a brief meaningless 'fling' with someone else? What if you did 85mph on the motorway in a 70 limit? What if you got paid in cash for doing the old lady's garden next door and didn't declare it on your annual tax return? What if you went to watch the cricket as the guest of a supplier and then didn't declare it to the taxman? What if you told the local 'good' school that you go to church every Sunday so that your kids might get in? When in reality you go at Easter and Christmas?
None of these things are a hangable or even cautionable offense. You therefore retain your sainthood and your blemish-free outlook on life. Your 'good family man' status. And that's great. Good for you.
But what if you then have a dispute at work as a Government employee? What if you oppose a Government policy and find yourself in a position to be recognised and taken seriously. Someone of good standing, credibility and influence. You believe that your are doing the right thing. You might be a whistle-blower perhaps, exposing corruption within an organisation that shouldn't be there. And that demands that you speak up for the greater good.
The trouble is that if your opponent knows everything about you; that you once, on a rainy afternoon visited 'debby does dallas.com' or flirted with the girl in the typing pool, got pissed at a Christmas party and did a Hitler salute; tried to see how fast the new Merc would go at 4am on the motorway...
If you did any of these things and a vast array of others that, I would argue, prove you're alive, human and real, then you're in deep shit.
It doesn't matter that the people you're accusing of wrongdoing or sexual infidelity or massive financial corruption are guilty of doing so. What happens is that you are labelled as a pervert or a speeder, a law-breaker, a hypocrite. And your 'revelations' fall at the first hurdle, that of being a credible witness.
Because in the wrong hands, the information that essentially proves you're human, and flawed, just like everyone else, can be used against you to discredit your argument, your revelations, your accusations. To the point where whatever the magnitude of the wrongdoing of the people you are exposing will not be taken seriously because of your minor human frailties and foibles.
Knowledge is power they say. I think that's probably more true than we know. I don't think that surveillance is such a good thing anymore.
I don't necessarily know what the answer is. But I don't think it's being controlled by snoopers.
I don't think it's always about exposing MPs for their foibles either. If they're doing a great job for the country we should cut them some personal slack in my opinion. If they're telling us how to live our lives (which they increasingly are) and are found wanting in their own lives that's another matter of course.
Overall, them having information on 'us' when we do not have access to information on 'them' is a bad thing. The balance should, if anything, be in the opposite direction if they're making laws for us to abide by.
If you do live an unblemished lifestyle you can throw the first stone. If not - and I'm guessing you don't - then you should be against surveillance and against the creeping spying that we're now encountering.
Thanks for reading. Sleep well, if you're not already. ;)
Mark
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