We’re A Surveillance State Now
They did it. They normalized constant surveillance. Big brother is quite literally here, just under a cute corporate names like Flock.
Flock cameras are placed on streets, intersections, highways, and buildings to detect, record, and even track license plate numbers. Texas police used 83,000 of them to follow a woman across the country who they thought might be getting an abortion. This is why people write novels like The Handmaid’s Tale or 1984.
Wisconsin police used these cameras to track a vehicle that the system “thought” was going back and forth to Michigan too many times. This is highly suspicious since Michigan has legal recreational marijuana and would pose an unimaginable threat to the public, thus requiring the state police’s time and taxpayer dollars to track down and actually search this guy’s car.
This is a key moment for all of us as a nation how we respond. Luckily, we can respond from our own homes. You don’t have to be out in the streets trying to climb camera poles with wire cutters in your pocket, the absolute worst thing for any prominent person, business or government is bad PR.
All you have to do is use your voice and spread the word about the obvious threat to freedom and privacy these cameras pose. I mean, the president has already fired several members of his cabinet due to awful PR surrounding this administration’s policies.
This is a country that prides itself of freedom and privacy. We have been progressively losing both ever since the PATRIOT Act. Thanks, Dubya. Handing our government the ability to surveil its citizens has opened the door for the NSA controversies of the 20-teens and the corporate-state lovemaking of 2026.
This has only been a thing for a couple months, and there’s already been dozens of cops fired or put on leave for using their access to Flock camera feeds to track and stalk ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends. Aside from Flock, multiple people have also been mistakenly arrested by police due to incorrect facial recognition software. Remember when we’d joke that this only happens in China or North Korea?
It’s hard enough exist right now with a brutal economy and a housing market that feels impossible for anyone under the age of 40 to get into, now we also have to deal with living in a Black Mirror episode.
Since the Republicans currently have a majority in every facet of the federal government, it’s easy to give them all the blame. But the reality is, Flock cameras are being used and abused in every state in the country, red and blue alike. Time will tell which states keep using them as this controversy continues, but the desire for control transcends either political party.
I could write many articles on why political parties shouldn’t exist and how they are the most obvious method to herd us into two conveniently color-coordinated teams to be pitted against each other like sheep, but today we’re talking about cameras.
Yes, some people will tell you that these cameras are only for criminals and they’ll keep you safe. Why should you be afraid if you have nothing to hide? The point is that you shouldn’t have to deal with this in the back of your head. You shouldn’t have to feel someone constantly looking over your shoulder and waiting for you to step out of line, or apparently, look like someone that may have stepped out of line.