Big Brother Democracy

[0007]

Recently, as protesters gathered outside the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit in Montebello, Quebec, to confront US President George W. Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Associated Press reported this surreal detail:

"Leaders were not able to see the protesters in person, but they could watch the protesters on TV monitors inside the hotel.... Cameramen hired to ensure that demonstrators would be able to pass along their messages to the three leaders sat idly in a tent full of audio and video equipment.... A sign on the outside of the tent said, 'Our cameras are here today providing your right to be seen and heard. Please let us help you get your message out. Thank You.'"

The spokesperson for Prime Minister Harper explained that although protesters were herded into empty fields, the video-link meant that their right to political speech was protected. "Under the law, they need to be seen and heard, and they will be."

Add a few more high-tech tools--biometric IDs, facial-recognition software, networked databases of "suspects," GPS bundled into ever more electronic devices--and you have something like the world of total surveillance most recently portrayed in The Bourne Ultimatum.

snip...

Which brings us back to the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Who needs clumsy old border checks when the authorities are making sure we are seen and heard at all times--in high definition, online and off-, on land and from the sky? Security is the new prosperity. Surveillance is the new democracy.


More....

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070910/klein

[Uncle Joe]

1. I wonder if they served wine and cheese to the dignitaries at the viewing of the protesters? n/t