See, that may have held up in the 1930s and 40s, but we live in the country with the most robust surveillance apparatus on the globe. And almost every one of us carries around a fun little brick full of privacy violations with us, everywhere we go, absorbing everything we do and say and buy, and packages it neatly into a form ad agencies and the government can use how they like. And one of those little bricks we call smartphones, why, not only do we carry them around willingly, they’re almost a necessity to get anything done in the modern era. We have surveillance that the Gestapo would’ve had wet dreams about. And, more, all of the largest tech corporations and their techbro CEOs – Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, etc. – are only too happy to kiss the ring and give them unfettered access. To say nothing of the countless other devices spying on you – Ring doorbells selling your data to police departments comes to mind.
I’m not saying it’s necessarily hopeless. But there will be no Anne Franks hiding in the attic if it comes to that point. They can, in fact, be everywhere, and if the hammer falls it’s going to fall hard and fast, there will be no long continuous search for undesirables across the countryside.
Oh they will. You underestimate the average person’s need to comply with the law. If the law says “deliver all the undesirables to the government” then most people will do just that.
Not most people. Most people would do nothing, preferring to not get involved. I think most people know why it’s a bad idea to turn in people in their community like that, but it doesn’t take most people to cause an atrocity. It takes a very few doing very bad things with no resistance. It takes most people to provide that resistance and stop atrocities. I have no idea how much resistance most people will provide today but these are uncertain times.
I take one issue with this, just one.
“They can’t be everywhere”
See, that may have held up in the 1930s and 40s, but we live in the country with the most robust surveillance apparatus on the globe. And almost every one of us carries around a fun little brick full of privacy violations with us, everywhere we go, absorbing everything we do and say and buy, and packages it neatly into a form ad agencies and the government can use how they like. And one of those little bricks we call smartphones, why, not only do we carry them around willingly, they’re almost a necessity to get anything done in the modern era. We have surveillance that the Gestapo would’ve had wet dreams about. And, more, all of the largest tech corporations and their techbro CEOs – Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, etc. – are only too happy to kiss the ring and give them unfettered access. To say nothing of the countless other devices spying on you – Ring doorbells selling your data to police departments comes to mind.
I’m not saying it’s necessarily hopeless. But there will be no Anne Franks hiding in the attic if it comes to that point. They can, in fact, be everywhere, and if the hammer falls it’s going to fall hard and fast, there will be no long continuous search for undesirables across the countryside.
Maybe it’s better phrased as “There’s not enough of them to get all of us”
Oh they will. You underestimate the average person’s need to comply with the law. If the law says “deliver all the undesirables to the government” then most people will do just that.
Not most people. Most people would do nothing, preferring to not get involved. I think most people know why it’s a bad idea to turn in people in their community like that, but it doesn’t take most people to cause an atrocity. It takes a very few doing very bad things with no resistance. It takes most people to provide that resistance and stop atrocities. I have no idea how much resistance most people will provide today but these are uncertain times.