tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post5394226120253492689..comments2024-03-20T05:31:42.781-04:00Comments on Secondat: surveillance cultureUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post-46566522586279347422008-01-11T17:24:00.000-05:002008-01-11T17:24:00.000-05:00Gobbergo: Well said. Vivi: Thanks for commentin...Gobbergo: Well said. Vivi: Thanks for commenting. I do live in the US. Americans like to think their liberties are better protected than in the UK and other countries because we have guarantees in our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the whole legal tradition. However, I think John Twelve Hawks is right to say this precious legacy is at risk. Today I read about efforts to require a new ID card, much like the ID Hawks puts in The Traveler. I'll do another post on this over the weekend I think. <BR/><BR/>I grew up trusting my government. The government's behavior during the Vietnam war cured me of that illusion. Still, I hate living so fully in an atmosphere of distrust. I'm a naturally optimistic person, but I'm worried.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08853204880593806973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post-46657891873875669402008-01-11T15:51:00.000-05:002008-01-11T15:51:00.000-05:00I just finished The Traveller last weekend and was...I just finished The Traveller last weekend and was looking for comments from other readers. I am impressed with your review! You definitely caught all the themes. More than me :) <BR/><BR/>I'm assuming you live in the States??? I live outside of London. In the UK, the Traveller included an essay by John Twelve Hawks that I thought was more focused than parts of the book. It's an attack on the Vast Machine and "the culture of fear" (his phrases).<BR/><BR/>There are a great many surveillance cameras in Britain so maybe we see the book differently. <BR/><BR/>ViviAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post-4487417450500348222008-01-11T12:31:00.000-05:002008-01-11T12:31:00.000-05:00Nice pseudo-review (pseudo b/c you haven't finishe...Nice pseudo-review (pseudo b/c you haven't finished the book, a situation I am very familiar with).<BR/><BR/>I too took some lessons from the revelation that the FBI can't get its act together enough to pay its wiretap phone bills. It connected to my long-standing defense against conspiracy theories (which, as a young adult who likes the Internets, are always around me): The government could never pull it off. <BR/><BR/>From working withing the government (briefly) and watching it in the news, I've come to tentatively conclude that conspiracy theories are bunk simply because the government could never manage to carry them all the way through. Someone would make a mistake (or, in all likelihood, a great number of people would make mistakes). <BR/><BR/>This is simultaneously comforting and infuriating, as you point out, because on the one hand our liberties are probably safer for it, but on the other hand, the incompetency that is at the core of the issue often makes life harder for everyone. Government has great potential for good and evil though, and I suppose I should be happy that however little good it seems often to accomplish is offset by how little evil it manages, simultaneously.GobberGohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06685268265446600292noreply@blogger.com