Dystopia in America

I love movies. Some of my favorite movies are stories of dystopian societies. Things like The Hunger Games, The Matrix, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and Oblivion just to name a few. These are greatly celebrated movies that depict society in dismay as government has taken stronghold and full control. They often insight a distant fear within us. We think of countries like North Korea when we watch these films, but how far away is America from these movies? 

The reality of government is harsh. Since the dawn of time governments and civilizations have crumbled due to military might and government power. Some of the largest empires like Rome have failed due to greedy government taking more than they should. Once people have given an inch, the government can never have enough creating a slippery slope that is hard to come back from. Unfortunately, the United States citizens have given more than an inch, and the increasing technological advances have expedited this process. 

Let us ponder the recent technology that we currently have. Drones, smart phones, and smart home devices. These are all current and prevalent technology that is easily accessible to virtually all of America. Smart phones have tracking capabilities that would allow the government to access our current and past locations with time stamps. Drones, most equipped with cameras, open new debate for crowded airspace and privacy issues. How can and how should the government restrict when and where people can fly/record and if they did would they be able to regulate it? Home devices like a Google Home or an Amazon Alexa are constantly intaking voices and recording data. Would it be easy for the government or someone else to tap into those devices and make them at home surveillance equipment? The scary part of the dystopian films is that government has forced their way into the lives of the people there. Making them insert equipment into their homes or bodies, none of it is voluntary. The even scarier part of society today is that we are installing all of the tools to be used against us ourselves. While the Bill of Rights is in place to restrict government power, it is also our jobs as citizens to make sure we are maintaining those and restricting its power.  

Gene Policinski - January 11th, 2019

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/2019/01/11/a-growing-list-2019-threats-to-first-amendment-freedoms/