Big Brother is here, and We are Him
“Character is what you do when you think that no one is looking.”
But here’s an interesting question: What happens to character when someone is always looking? How is the concept of character altered in a 24/7/365 world in which more and more of our lives are conducted in public and the sphere of privacy shrinks to the point that it threatens to implode upon itself like a black star?
We live in a world in which knowledge about what we buy, eat, drink, read, wear and watch is now bought and sold freely by corporate America. We are tracked in the virtual world as we travel from website to website; we are tracked in the actual world by the unblinking eye of video cameras recording us from the highway to the parking lot to the store to the bank to the restaurant and back home again.
If we rent a hotel room, board an airplane, make a cellphone call or fill our gas tank, someone somewhere knows it and records it.
And increasingly, such exposure is active rather than passive. It is something that we as a culture now seek. Millions broadcast the intricacies of our lives via Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media, and every utterance and act of our political leaders, sports figures and entertainers become fodder for gossip, exaggeration and distortion.
Everybody is watching everybody. Big Brother is here, and We are Him. And even those who personally resist such trends must acknowledge the cultural futility of their protest.
Consider, for example, the ongoing scandal involving U.S. Secret Service agents in Colombia. A dispute with a prostitute over payment in a hotel room in far-off Cartagena becomes international knowledge in a matter of hours. They thought no one was looking, but in reality everyone was looking.
But here’s a little sidebar that I find even more telling:
It turns out that one of the Secret Service supervisors fired in the Colombia scandal had been assigned to protect Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign. On his Facebook page, David Chaney had posted photographs of himself eying Palin behind his sunglasses, bragging that “I was really checking her out, if you know what I mean.”
Palin has expressed outrage at the posting, and she has every right to feel that way. In a profession in which discretion would seem to be a primary virtue, Chaney thought that because everyone is looking, no one would be looking. And here’s the thing: Up to the moment that he got caught in that hooker scandal, he was right. Those photos had been posted more than three years ago, and nobody took notice. It’s as if being transparent means being invisible.
So … what happens to character in such a world? At first blush, it might seem logical that as more of our lives become open to inspection, and as the odds rise that any misbehavior on our part will become public, social pressure and concern for reputation would force people to live more cautiously and abide by social norms.
That’s certainly how George Orwell thought it would work out. In “1984,” his version of the ever-watchful Big Brother enforced a repressive, sterile conformity on everybody within his purview.
But that’s not how things are working out in reality. With the full range of human frailty increasingly on parade, who cares? When all are shamed, none is shamed. Exposure becomes something to be sought rather than something to be avoided, and for good or bad, the result is a liberation from rather than reinforcement of social codes and morality.
And character? Character becomes what you do when everyone is looking and no one cares.
– Jay Bookman
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352 comments Add your comment
My Party has ALL the answers. Your party is full of poopyheads! (formerly That Black Guy)
April 20th, 2012
3:41 pm
Brosephus™
April 20th, 2012
1:35 pm
Congratulations, are you just now figuring that one out? Could have told you that one back 2003.
Yet the conservative machine backed him in full force in 2004. So what does that say about conservatives?
____________________________________________________________________________
Bro, I would say the GOP machine backed him full force.
There is a difference.
Although that line is becomming more and more blurred.
Peadawg
April 20th, 2012
3:42 pm
Bro, Obama has had cases of foot-in-mouth syndrome before. Being President, being head of a country, being someone that people look up too….he needs to be more careful with that foot. Just stick to things that have relevance to the Presidency. Not some case in Florida or Massachusetts.
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:42 pm
ZamVet
Them five states are big fans of coaches, you know. That says a lot, too…
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:45 pm
THULSA
Not harsh at all. That reporter was out to stir the sh*t.
Oblama
April 20th, 2012
3:46 pm
For those of you who don’t know me. I am neither Dem nor Repub. Oblama means that you always blame the other side and never accept responsibility for your own part in creating this alarming Fed debt and failing economy. BOTH parties are responsible and those who voted for them are responsible if you kept them in office. I am for Term Limits on both parties. I did not vote for Bush II or Obama. I did vote for the only candidate to take the deficit seriously – Ross Perot. This election is not about class warfare/ race warfare/ sex warfare/ or age warfare as the Dem Party is trying to make it. This election is about the economy, jobs and the alarming Fed debt and how to reduce it. JamVet knows I have explained this before. I am not a member of either party. I am for who I think will reduce this Fed debt and Oblama has had 4 years and I don’t buy what he is selling.
larry
April 20th, 2012
3:46 pm
I though Carter came after Gerald Ford , not Nixon.
And yes i lived through that too.
Thulsa Doom
April 20th, 2012
3:46 pm
Debbiedoright,
Harsh Debbie. Very harsh of you. I thought it was a nice speech and the president referenced the tornado tragedy and people coming together in its aftermath. It was more than just about a football team winning a championship. But if you think that’s dim witted of me then so be it.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
April 20th, 2012
3:46 pm
Stevie Ray – The president shouldn’t have weighed in on Martin? Why not? Does he loose his “Right to free speech” when he becomes President but everyone else is allowed it? Just asking…..
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:48 pm
BTW
I don’t know if he was kidding or not (no smiley) but that quote from Thulsa of me is not correct…I didn’t say the reporter should be castrated. Why? I have no idea (seriously) whether that Warholian cretin was male or female…
JamVet
April 20th, 2012
3:48 pm
Nah, just racists, jo. (smiley face emoticon here)
Fred ™
April 20th, 2012
3:49 pm
Did Atlas Shrugged (part1) ever make the theaters or did it go straight to video?
Thulsa Doom
April 20th, 2012
3:49 pm
josef,
Couldn’t agree with you more. But if he didn’t do it you know somebody would have asked. Anything that makes national news that involves race and gets people at each other’s throats and gets shyte all stirred up is going to be brought up by the media. Its how they roll. Besides I was just making humor with the typo correction to castration and a chance to mess with ya.
Fred ™
April 20th, 2012
3:50 pm
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:48 pm
BTW
I don’t know if he was kidding or not (no smiley) but that quote from Thulsa of me is not correct…I didn’t say the reporter should be castrated. Why? I have no idea (seriously) whether that Warholian cretin was male or female…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You said castigated lol. You know doomy. He sometimes gets tripped up on the big words. Or not. He also sometimes gets punny lol.
Fred ™
April 20th, 2012
3:50 pm
LOL Doomy. I nailed it.
Steve - USA (I support "None Of The Above")
April 20th, 2012
3:50 pm
I have to go. I would appreciate if someone could post this in Jay’s Friday song blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:52 pm
ZamVet
Yeah, but with the exception of Louisiana, they ain’t real fond of Catholic Priests… and they’re no more racist than any others, just a bit more up front and honest…
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
April 20th, 2012
3:53 pm
Oh Bama!: JFK ran against Nixon and won. JFK was, unfortunately assassinated, LBJ assumed the last year of JFK’s term, then LBJ ran and won on the JFK sympathy vote. LBJ was very unpopular due to getting the U.S. involved in Vietnam. He declined to run for a second term. Nixon ran and won and then was removed from office due to Watergate. Jimmy Carter ran and won. Carter ran again and was defeated by Ronald Reagan in one of the greatest landslides in history due to the recession
My GOD you’re dumb! THIS is what I was responding to dumbazz!
From carlosgov: It started with Carter. By Nixon’s time it was too entrenched to undo
Nixon’s time was BEFORE Carter’s. That’s what I said. I have no idea why I’m even responding to you. Boredom makes you do strange things…………….
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:53 pm
Thulsa
Clarified…
stands for decibels
April 20th, 2012
3:54 pm
Clarified…
butter?
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
April 20th, 2012
3:54 pm
JAY:
“Big Brother is here, and We are Him
And character? Character becomes what you do when everyone is looking and no one cares.”
And if you think Big Brother is watching Jay, don’t forget GOD is watching too …………………. !
Fred ™
April 20th, 2012
3:54 pm
DDR: You DO know that there is “liberal” talk radio in Atlanta now didn’t you? 1010 WGUN. http://atlantas1010.com/
You can’t stream live yet but they say it coming. They kind of flow back and forth between black radio, liberal radio, and I guess on weekends, Jesus radio. I dunno. I’ve heard Randi Rhodes and a couple others there so far……..
(ir)Rational
April 20th, 2012
3:54 pm
Fred – It opened on April 15th last year in the theaters. Well, in some theaters.
pogo
April 20th, 2012
3:55 pm
Then Jay you must reallly hate Obamacare and it’s “electronic records. We are toast and there will be no freedom for our children. Political correctness was the beginning. Databases and beareaucrats will be the end.
josef
April 20th, 2012
3:56 pm
SFD
Weren’t we talking about Big Butter…?
JamVet
April 20th, 2012
3:57 pm
OK, out for the evening.
Play some great stuff later and in the meantime demonize your favorite demons!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8aJXzR3WyI
stands for decibels
April 20th, 2012
3:57 pm
Probably won’t be around for much of the FNM magic, but maybe someone here will want to get it started a bit earlier.
Been thinking about Curtis lately. Miss him. (and now Levon, of course, but surely he’ll get his due.)
So move on up…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo50otY1nLI
stands for decibels
April 20th, 2012
3:58 pm
Weren’t we talking about Big Butter…?
har har har, cubed!
later, all.
Brosephus™
April 20th, 2012
4:00 pm
Steve
I guess that’s your perspective on that. I would think that most people who saw, Oblama, do you see partisan politics in EVERY topic?, would simply see a poster asking another poster if he saw partisanship in everything he saw. I don’t see how addressing a question to a specific person is the same as accusing that person of being the only person that does that, but then again, I can’t see things from your perspective, only mine.
JOE COOL~DoWnToWn THUG
April 20th, 2012
4:00 pm
“For those of you who don’t know me.”
NOBODY knows u……
josef
April 20th, 2012
4:02 pm
Tune time….
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
April 20th, 2012
4:03 pm
Headline (CBS): “Dem Senator Doesn’t Know If He Will Vote For Obama”
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/04/20/dem-senator-doesnt-know-if-he-will-vote-for-obama/
“All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put Humpy Dumpty together again.”
Thulsa Doom
April 20th, 2012
4:04 pm
Debbido, Sorry Debbie I thought you were responding to me with the Oh Bama. You’ve called me Bama before so naturally I thought you were referring to my post.
Fred,
You know I just had to mess with josef a little bit. Is it the 4 syllable words that confound him?
My Party has ALL the answers. Your party is full of poopyheads! (formerly That Black Guy)
April 20th, 2012
4:05 pm
Steve – USA (I support “None Of The Above”)
April 20th, 2012
3:25 pm
“Oblama, do you see partisan politics in EVERY topic?”
You make it sound like he is the only one.
____________________________________________________________________________
No Steve, he’s not the ONLY one.
But even getalife from time to time can comment on a topic without the political BS.
It just gets old.
Yes, I know I can scroll past his posts.
And I think I shall.
Brosephus™
April 20th, 2012
4:05 pm
Bro, I would say the GOP machine backed him full force.
There is a difference.
Although that line is becomming more and more blurred.
As the GOP continues to purge itself of moderates, the two are becoming one and the same. The line isn’t being blurred, it’s being decimated.
————————–
Peadawg
I just see this as a simple case of you can’t please some of the people all of the time. Maybe I should be upset about him saying things, but I honestly don’t care. My viewpoints and opinions are not prejudiced based on what he thinks or says. He simply doesn’t have that much sway with how I think. Maybe there are others who are easily swayed in that manner.
————————-
mmmmmmmmmmmmm clarified butter…….
That Black Guy on Android
April 20th, 2012
4:16 pm
Steve , my comment would not apply to JamVet, because I have seen him make Plenty of nonpartisan posts. Heck, look at his first couple on this topic.
Oblama. Not so much.
barking frog
April 20th, 2012
4:17 pm
crickets chirping make me
hungry..
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
April 20th, 2012
4:19 pm
Oh BAma!: Oblama
April 20th, 2012
3:33 pm
Debbie – sorry I got you mixed up with Carlos. He was the dummy this time. As I said Carter was after Nixon. They both were in office during gas shortages and long lines. Carter famously said that the world would run out of oil in 10 years back when he was still in office. Guess his estimate was a little uniformed
Uh Oh! I think I owe you an apology. Sorry about what I said earlier. Bad Debbie, Bad. Bad. BAD!!!
Pdawg: Even if he did need to weigh in on it, don’t say something as stupid as “if i had a son he’d look like that” or whatever. I just don’t the relevance
Because you’re not black; so your son would not look like a black teenager who the right wing wackos say they have a right to profile. Duh!
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
April 20th, 2012
4:20 pm
Doom – You’re not going to get me to click on that link. I’d rather blow LimpBalls a kiss towards his big fat mouth. (get your mind outta the gutter!!
)
Thulsa Doom
April 20th, 2012
4:22 pm
Debbiedoright,
No biggie. I just wondered why I was catching hell. But I wasn’t kidding about Obama’s speech when our team went to the white house today. It really was a very wonderful speech indeed even if it only was for 7 minutes. Plus our team got to meet the president which is always a cool thing.
Thulsa Doom
April 20th, 2012
4:25 pm
Debbiedo,
You sure you don’t want to click on that link?
You said something the other night in reference to sleeping with limp balls. I’m a startin to wonder if you got some kinda Freudian thing going on for the fat man.
Just messin with ya.
Don't Forget
April 20th, 2012
4:29 pm
Thulsa – did you hear? You guys broke the crystal football. Actually it was the father of a player who tripped on the carpet and knocked it off the pedestal. Replacement cost $30,000
GT
April 20th, 2012
5:03 pm
I can remember kids while growing up, who would question everything. What you thought neat they thought was boring, and I think that mood lingered. They rearranged dress, language, weddings,and music to pick up their boredom, to be different. It is mass depression. Character doesn’t help depression. Accent is on youth, Hollywood, sports, business, so we are all on a treadmill to depression. You may not get to heaven but you will get to depression, where nothing much matters anymore. Character may be what to do when this depression hits.
Tu-Quan
April 20th, 2012
5:56 pm
“Everybody is watching everybody. Big Brother is here, and We are Him.”
Yep, Gwinnett County just spent $677,000 to install “traffic safety” cameras along the roads. You’d have to be a total Pollyanna to believe those cameras will only be used for “safety”.
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
April 20th, 2012
6:12 pm
Psalm 112
Isaiah 5:20
Jeremiah 6:16 – 19
Proverbs 14:12
Fortunately for us, Jay, the One who set the standards does not change them.
Mary Elizabeth
April 20th, 2012
6:17 pm
As a follow up to my 11:47 am post, here is another entry from my blog – for any who may be interested – related to becoming who one inherently is, outside of group norms and expectations:
http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/for-the-god-of-things-as-they-are/
Mary Elizabeth
April 20th, 2012
6:19 pm
Mick @ 2:06 pm
I enjoyed your deliberate play on the “right” word! Enjoy your weekend.
Mary Elizabeth
April 20th, 2012
6:42 pm
Talking Head @ 2:03 pm
” ‘ME: You give up (what many perceive as) privacy in many life situations for convenience in order to improve the quality of your life. Just because Obamacare is passed, does not mean individuals would have to give up their private health insurance, if they do not care to.’
Ok, that’s not even anything I addressed.”
===============================================
My point was that little in life has absolute purity – including privacy. It is a matter of degree. One may choose, for example, to give up a small degree of privacy, as in Medicare, for a greater benefit of service and convenience.
You had said: “Disagree completely. Under ‘Obamacare’ ‘advisory’ boards are created that will determine whether a procedure is deemed necessary. In order for them to make such a decision, wouldn’t they need to know your medical history, age, sex, etc?”
I suspect that Obamacare would function – in terms of privacy – similar to Medicare. I have found no meaningful intrusion on my privacy since I have been on Medicare.
(I see that the “advisory board” aspect that you brought up was discussed by others earlier today, after you initially posted this remark, so there is no need for me to readdress it here.)
ld
April 20th, 2012
8:52 pm
If Geo Orwell had entitled his book 2012, he’d have been a prophet.
Joel Edge
April 21st, 2012
6:05 am
“and no one cares.”
So I guess the big question is why does no one care, Jay. Hard times make for hard exteriors. Overexposure to “full range of human frailty” numbs the senses. Repeated appeals for restitution for this or that slight began to sound like whining. Teaching becomes nagging. Eventually the human capacity for caring simply shrugs.
Rockwell
April 21st, 2012
8:40 am
Prior to 9/11, I could book a flight in your name and pay for it in cash. You could pay for hotel rooms in cash, no questions asked. Now you need a credit card and photo ID.
Now the only thing you can do in this country without an ID is…..vote. Ain’t that some schnit!
Big Brother is Here, and We are Him |
April 21st, 2012
3:28 pm
[...] Source: AJC [...]
Thomas Heyward Jr.
April 22nd, 2012
2:31 pm
“Big Brother is here, and We are Him”
.
Typical collective “we ARE the government” propaganda crap.
.
I ain’t no “big brother”. And if I was …I wouldn’t murder, torture, or beat up and cage young kids who want to spliff a doobie.
I wouldn’t harass anyone that didn’t wear a seatbelt or motocycle helmut.
I wouldn’t care about who you married or who you do. ……. nor care what anyone else was doing ……………………………………………………..as long as they didn’t violate my rights.
.
No …..”we” aren’t big brother.
Bookman is “Big State Media” trying to sell “Big Brother” propaganda .
.
And to Bookman’s quote………”cultural futility of their protest.”
Here’s Thomas Heywards Junior’s quote…………”FUTILE my AZZZZZZZZZ.”
.
The Ron Paul Revolution is real……….its here……………and its now.
.
Basic Human Decency NEVER goes out of style.