How can a more perfect target be found? Is there anybody less able to defend themselves without self incrimination? "This just in... LAPD arrested a group of paranoid gun nuts tonight. The group is believed to be a Militia, and the LAPD believes they were planning terrorist acts.". A perfect story. What can possibly be said? The perps are paranoid, they'll say (and believe) anything to get out of their imaginary persecutor's grasp. Of course, who is paranoid in this scenario? Obviously the "Gun Nuts" weren't paranoid enough (or they would not have been caught). On the other hand, the LAPD was willing to arrest people on suspicion, and charge them with trivial crimes, rather than make a compelling case & then arrest the men. The news media was willing to read a report stating that the people were charged only with minor weapons violations (which may not even stick), and still put the men's faces all over the news for days... Ah well, Doesn't matter. If they are "Innocent", we'll just go on to another story.
The list is quite long, and covers just about every segment of the population.
Politicians gain power through every act of violence, the media gains air time,
the police gain money, the talk shows get something to talk about, the criminals
gain a little money and a bit of satisfaction, everybody gains except.... Well,
these days, even the victim gains, as long as it was a truly vicious crime.
A little money to ease the hurt, a little fame to show your grandkids one day (provided they weren't the ones killed).
Don't believe it? OK, a trivial case.
Go visit three dentists in a row. Find one just out of school,
one that has been in practice for awhile in a good neighborhood, and one in
a bad neighborhood. Tell them all the same story, and see what problems each
of them sees. If you were paranoid, you might believe that was the reason
most health/dental plans assign a single doctor or dentist, and don't allow
you to visit others without a referral. Got to give the doctors some incentive
to join the organization.
The question is then, how can a sane person not be paranoid?
Governments spy on us, our neighbors spy on us, businesses spy on us. Heck, we
are so used to it that we
spy on our selves!
It ain't just big brother anymore. 1984 came and went, and everybody stands up and says, "See, we aren't all that bad, no camera's in your living rooms, no mandatory propaganda watching. It was all just a book. We aren't like that at all." But 1984 was a warning not just to us, but to them. It told them to be subtle. "Don't spook the prey."
Now, in an age where video cameras are omnipresent, and a person who doesn't show up on at least one video screen a day is almost certainly dead. An age where a person without an ID or a record in the computer is a criminal, we are seeing the dream of 1984 blossoming around us. We can now be safe and secure in the knowledge that somebody cares about us, about what we are doing.
Somebody is watching out for us.
So keep smiling for those cameras, people! And remember, we are here to help.
