Orwellian is a term that is often thrown about in the
media. Usually this is not meant in terms of Totalitarianism (at least not yet)
but in the sense that we live under constant surveillance. Some think in terms
of the American government wielding great fear in that it has claimed the right
to take anyone away at any time and with no explanation.
The courts have ruled that security absolutely trumps
the 4th Amendment. I would contend that given our new technological
society, the 4th Amendment is effectively dead. The Patriot Act
sealed the coffin.
Thinking of '1984' we tend to think of Winston's
experiences and point of view because his eyes had started to open to the
restrictive society he lived in. But what about all the others who blindly
believed in the lie? We don't really know how they saw things. The narrator
doesn't take us into their heads. We wonder how they could be so blind? Wasn't
it obvious to them? That same line of thinking applies to the citizens living
in Germany under Hitler, in the USSR during its darkest days and certainly
those living under the Kim dynasty in North Korea. We ask ourselves how did
they let this happen?
I contend we've already moved far beyond what Orwell
could have even imagined. And perhaps what is more troubling, we have a Church
which is supposed to be antithetical to the world but instead has all but
baptized the world-system. I will elaborate on that a bit later.
Many have debated the futuristic views of Orwell and
Huxley. Who was right? Was the Huxley world of drugs, sex, consumerism and
entertainment the accurate vision or the dark Orwellian state that controlled
all thoughts and actions? Which model represents the future we should look for?
It has seemed to many people that the two were mutually exclusive visions, but
reality and history are moving us toward a strange blend of the two.
There's a great quote from Neil Postman regarding the
two works:
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Postman added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.
It's turning out that both men were correct. We increasingly
live in a society with both tensions at work. How long can the tensions remain
before the one cancels out the other? Given the choice between the two which is
optimum for Christian living and gospel propagation?
We can't even begin to answer that unless we reflect on
what is happening. I fear many have not even grasped it.
How many people realize how truly profound the past few
years have been? We are living in the midst of what can only be called a
titanic social upheaval and yet I sometimes get the impression that not
everyone is recognizing it.
We might be aware of the fact that the Internet has
become commonplace but not very many people have thought through the
implications of this... especially in light of the state and the powers it has
assumed in the wake of 11 September 2001.
I always explain to my kids how people didn't wake up
one morning in 476 or 501 and say, "Hey, Late Antiquity is over. We're in
the Dark Ages now!"
History doesn't work that way. Our brackets and
divisions are the result of organization and analysis. With 20/20 hindsight we
look back, categorize events and prioritize them.
And yet I think we can clearly see that while the
Industrial Revolution was one of the most earth-shattering events in all of
history, it was but prologue to the Technological or Computer Age we have now
entered. The steam engine and the automobile changed the world. I don't think
we are able to yet appreciate the effect of the computer. It's too soon, but
the hints are there and they are breathtaking.
And it's happening so rapidly. As recently as 2000 I
still recall hearing people referring to the Internet as a fad and expressing
no interest in it. In 2000 there were no Smartphones, YouTube or hardly any
video capability at all. Social Networking barely existed. The Internet was
still young and people were as likely to not have email as they were to have
it.
I know some don't feel the change. If you live out in
the country you might miss what is happening. Actually I would argue that living
out in a rural area actually helps you feel it more acutely. When we visit the
city and interact with the mainstream of society we have something to contrast
and compare with. We can 'feel' the difference in a way many urban and suburban
Americans do not.
I live in a county with no stoplights. Mobile phone
service is pretty limited. A lot of people around where I live still don't have
computers. That said, when we go out we see the Smartphones and all the rest.
But I can assure you it's nothing less than culture shock when we go into the
city. Lives have changed. The technology has taken over. I say this as someone
who was lived in various parts of the United States and overseas. I'm not viewing this through ignorant or provincial
eyes. I'm someone who is 'plugged in' but not anything like mainstream society.
A
New Era
Today I frequently tell my kids that if the world is
still here two centuries from now people will be talking about today, this very
time in which we live. We live at the dawn of the computer age.
There are so many fundamental social changes that are
occurring right now it is literally like we are entering into a new
civilizational era. We are truly leaving something behind and moving into a new
period. This is a shift analogous to the transition from Late Antiquity to the
Middle Ages or the Middle Ages to Modernity.
Those of us who can clearly remember the time before
computers were in almost every home are part of what will soon be a very unique
generation. When we're old, people will marvel as we will tell of the days
before the Internet and the home computer, or of the days of television with
but a few channels, and no 'on demand'. Or how about research by microfiche? It
reminds me of talking to World War I veterans when I was a kid. They belonged
to a different era too. And yet 2050 may well be farther removed from today
than 2014 is from 1914.
My kids are growing up in a very different world than the
one I grew up in and I'm hardly old! I know every post-Industrial generation
has said that and as I mentioned the automobile certainly changed the world,
but I think the computer will be bigger and in fact already is.
We've all noticed the Internet and the Smartphones and
how they've altered lives, but these are but the symptoms of far more profound
changes...deep changes to the whole nature of the social order, the concept of
the individual, notions of privacy and power. We're undergoing colossal shifts
in these areas. Most have embraced the technology and its vales without even
pausing to think about it.
If we don't notice, then we can't explain the changes
to our children and they won't know the difference. That's quite disturbing and
not a little frightening. I'm already encountering this while out in public.
I'm running into young people that can't understand concepts of privacy and
discretion, let alone decorum. They don't understand how consumerism is shaping
their thoughts. When I don't want to allow everyone to scan my driver's
license, take my picture, or type in my address and phone number, I'm viewed as
incomprehensible and strange.
If I'm not interested in thinking about life the way
they want me to or think I should, I'm viewed as not only weird but possibly
dangerous.
I was getting my son a haircut one day and we ran into
a problem because I insisted they didn't need his last name, phone number or
address to get a haircut. The young stylist was very irritated with me. I know
they just want to send me coupons, but I don't think the data needs to be out
there for everyone to utilize and steal. I also realize they have difficulties
because the computer now dominates all transactions and they have problems
leaving fields empty.
When I was ready to walk out rather than give up the
information her manager intervened and we got the haircut. Thankfully it was a
different girl who actually ended up cutting his hair. But then I kept watching
the first girl giving me the evil eye and half expected she was going to call
the authorities and accuse me of abuse or something. I was not hostile or
confrontational. Usually my tactic is to try and be overly friendly. I go into 'experiment
mode' and watch people's reactions. I acted baffled as to why they would want the
information while inside (I'll admit) I was fairly miffed by the whole thing.
What disturbed me was the fact that this young woman couldn't even begin to
understand what my problem was.
We had another issue awhile back. A young relative was
snapping away photos at a family event. In my opinion this practice is rude and
quite out of control. We then found out she had posted many pictures of our
children on her Facebook page. We asked her to take them down. She just
couldn't understand why. She couldn't grasp that what she had done was
inconsiderate and in fact rude. She removed them but was very irritated with
us.
Ignorant of history and the true nature of the American
government much of our society can't understand why anyone is leery of these
innovations. Europeans know why and their long history of abusive state power
has made them hostile to this type of data collection. This is why the US government
received such a visceral and hostile response from Europe when the NSA
programmes were leaked.
I'm not being a paranoid crank. We have too much data
out there and it can be stolen and/or used against us. We're not just losing
our notions of privacy but of personal space. Everyone is clamouring to be
unique and individual but instead they are joining a massive herd. If society
tweaks a little, true individuals which as Christians vis-a-vis our society we
must be...then we're going to have some problems.
Free Speech which is something that should be very
important to us is being subsumed and undermined by the supposed interests of
Security. And that notion of Security is rapidly expanding as our society
continues to interlace and enmesh itself in cyberspace. In an era of Total War,
Security becomes a ubiquitous concept.
There are a handful of voices in the Church and a fair
bit of commentary regarding all this. While I'm not surprised, I am
nevertheless sorry to acknowledge that most of it is widely missing the mark
and in reality most of the Christian pundits have in fact signed on with the
system.... sometimes even while they are critiquing aspects of it. In some ways
it's like they're unable to grasp the big picture. Focused on their own narrow
aspect and political agenda, they're still failing to see the whole.
While I don't want to be a paranoid alarmist there are
reasons to be concerned. The re-casting of speech, freedom, security and power
mean there are some real and potential dangers for Non-conformist Christians.
CONTINUE READING PART 2