Much of the Left is indignant about any increase in the oversight powers of the state regarding the movement and activities of civilians. Rightly so. But should we be increasing or decreasing our efforts in slowing/ending these forms of state supervision?
The question posed here is essentially one of surveillance’s role in society. Is the state increasing its control of citizens through CCTV cameras, for example? Are people behaving differently due to the increased surveillance? Will these intrusions into our private lives affect the consequences of resistance?
Lets discuss surveillance in specifics. First we have the covert surveillance of, in the US, the CIA and FBI. The extent of this technology we (certainly I) do not know. We can guess its pretty advanced and come in many forms. Stopping this progress, it seems, would require taking over the state since most of this work is done in secret. The more overt form of surveillance regards CCTV cameras used by the state, increased security measures at airports, identification (fingerprinting, id cards, eye scans, facial recognition, etc…), and cell phone tracking capabilities.
CCTV cameras, particularly in England, are ALL OVER THE PLACE. People in public areas are likely being filmed. This, I don’t think affects their behavior, at least for ordinary citizens. Certainly criminals may mind or radicals who are committing crimes (as defined by the state). But how much would be gained by getting rid of these cameras? Riots certainly may increase as it becomes easier to disappear into the crowd without worrying about getting on camera. Radicals may be able to get away with more…though many illegal actions occur while CCTV cameras are in place anyway (ski masks are terribly hard to get/make). Other actions are purposefully filmed. Regardless, some changes may occur, but mostly it seems to not negatively impact a majority of people who therefore become use to the idea of CCTV cameras and don’t protest their existence, something that would be needed to get rid of them. A similar issue arises with ID technology. So is it worth the struggle?
We can see how limiting surveillance can be a non-reformist reform in that revolutionary activity may be halted due to the states capacity to SEE. But, would this not be true if the CCTV cameras weren’t there? Or if the ID tools werent used? The CIA/FBI (depending on where you are from) CAN find you (…if they want to) just as well without the CCTV cameras.
Lets not be paranoid. the revolution is not happening now and COINTELPRO can kick-in and do its job well without surveillance. If we bring more people to the Left, we can oppose surveillance from a position of power. If we massively oppose surveillance now we spend our time making ourselves look paranoid instead of bringing in more people or doing more important non-reformist reform work.
Though I am a large proponent of non-reformist reforms, I think this particular reform is better left for later. We have more important work to do.
