The federal government is not the only government that is watching us. In cities and towns all over America governments are now mounting cameras on traffic intersections and buildings so they can allegedly catch traffic violators and criminals in the act of committing crimes. They can also keep track of everyone who drives or walks by a camera at any time of the day. This did come in handy in catching the Boston Marathon bombers who killed and injured multiple people with two home made bombs. This sounds great doesn't it? As long as these cameras are used for this purpose and this purpose only. In the hands of a tyrannical government, these cameras along with tapping into the web, emails and phone calls can become an oppression to the people themselves. I can tell you that this scares the hell out of me. In the wrong hands, all of this technology can take us to the "Big Brother is Watching You" syndrome that George Orwell wrote about in his book 1984.
Along with everything mentioned above, now governments want to use unmanned drones for surveillance in cities and towns across the U.S. These drones would fly overhead almost undetected with cameras that can pick up words on a small piece of paper or maybe the screen of an I-phone. Right now, our military uses these drones in surveillance as well as bombing targets in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a war situation, these drones are great. They keep soldiers from getting injured or killed in the line of duty. However, in the hands of the local, yocal police, they can become another tool for "Big Brother".
The bottom line here is that all of this surveillance technology in the wrong hands can be harmful to everything our constitution stands for. In the wrong hands we will not be able to say or write with a freedom that was allotted us by our founding fathers. Instead we will have to meet in dark, back rooms to articulate our thoughts especially if they pertain to our governments.
Several weeks ago I wrote about how I was for the proposed gun control that dealt with automatic and semi-automatic firearms. Now I am beginning to change my mind. If the government has the ability to watch us and takes our weapons away, we are no more than mindless drones at their mercy. This combination of removed writes which were given to us the the constitution would allow the government to have total and absolute control over all of us. Is this where this is heading? I really hope not. I can only think that our governments will use these technological tools wisely. I can only hope that they do not use this ability to suppress the people in the guise of The War On Terror. I can hope, can't I.
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