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 here's
nothing like having a government informer around to make one feel
secure — if one happens to be a "law and order" fanatic, or
an unusually pathetic exhibitionist. For the rest of us, the presence
of official snoops has the aroma of East Germany, circa 1980, even
if the snoop is a camera mounted at a stoplight "for our own safety."
While I no longer drive to work, it is easy to imagine the aggravation
these cameras create in the souls of fellow citizens. Many commuters,
after all, are motoring to a job with a fair amount of background
aggravation — an incompetent boss, a less than flattering salary,
a malignant or malodorous co-worker or two, plus the aggravation
of the work itself.
They carry other baggage as well: thoughts of a nagging or perhaps
carousing spouse, fears their children may be flirting with felonious
behavior, clothes anxiety, receding gums, expanding moles, a knock
in the engine, and the various other fears of our day, including
the suspicion that buttering the morning toast may have been an
act of reckless endangerment.
With the mind so occupied, it is easy to pass through the first
blushes of a red light, and at some intersections that can result
in a camera-produced ticket. Reports say these fines are always
cheaper than the cost of appearing in court, signaling that yet
one more shakedown is underway. The price is apparently rising.
"Montgomery County, Maryland, has issued 54,000 camera citations
since 1999 and county leaders now want to raise the fine for running
a red light to $250 from $75," the Wall Street Journal tells
us.
But the problem is much greater than a fine. Surveillance cameras
are creating what an enterprising shyster might call a "hostile
living environment." The snooping isn't restricted to stoplight
surveillance, after all. In Tampa, authorities have set up cameras
in public places to track criminals. Everyone who wanders into the
targeted area is under surveillance. When you add the innumerable
cameras placed by private companies and individuals at homes and
businesses, it's reasonable to say that it is getting difficult
to go places in America that aren't under the electronic eye.
All of which is nearly enough to create sympathy for those poor
fools who worry continuously about the presence of microwaves in
the atmosphere. That brand of maniac, as we know, worries that those
waves interfere with the natural operation of his brain. The presence
of surveillance cameras constitutes an interference with the natural
mobility of free people. After all, how free are you if The Man
is always looking over your shoulder?
Unfortunately, one fears that a growing number of Americans don't
mind being snooped upon in this fashion. These individuals (term
loosely applied) have succumbed to the view that government is there
to take care of them, and that almost anything done that may stretch
out their years is commendable and worthy of support. A county commissioner
of Palm Beach County, Florida, put it this way: "If Big Brother
saves lives, then I'm happy to be Big Brother."
That, of course, is a deeply malignant point of view. It holds that
"public safety" is justification for nearly any excess, intrigue,
and prohibition. That commissioner needs a good flogging, though
higher office is probably the more likely reward.
Cameras, to be sure, don't have quite the shock value of posting
a human snoop at every stoplight and around town squares. Like most
people, I have often wished a cop were nearby when someone roars
through a ripe red light. But the fact is, no sane person wants
a cop on every corner — or indeed wants all the laws enforced,
to the letter or otherwise. Many of us break laws all the time.
If we were pegged for each offense we commit (the list of possibilities
is no doubt quite long), our fines might easily match our mortgages.
To name a few: It has been pointed out the if using cameras to catch
speeders and light-runners is acceptable, then so should it be allowable
to post cameras to catch smokers in areas (towns, cities) where
smoking is prohibited. I would add that in some places, cursing
has been outlawed, making it acceptable to place cameras and microphones
about to catch offenders. With the zero-tolerance movement in full
fester, the level of surveillance of young people could easily reach
saturation stage, with horrendously unfair judgments and punishments
rendered against those who spoke in a way authorities deem threatening.
Moralists tell us that once inner restraints are lost, the only
way to control people is through outside forces. Hanging cameras
is one way of asserting control, and America is increasingly and
frightfully well hung.
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