The Democrats Panopticon

2010-03-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

The Democrats have been trying to pass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) bill since 2008. Introduced by Ted Kennedy in 1977, The FISA bill allows the United States government to observe anyone at anytime through video and audio surveillance, meaning anyone with a cell phone or anyone in the public’s “eye.” The following websites track the bill from 2008 to the present.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3773

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3846

The constant surveillance or the idea of an individual thinking he or she is under constant surveillance directly coincides with Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punishment” when he speaks about Bentham’s Panopticon.

The romantic idea of the Panopticon sounds unfathomable; however, this romantic idea is coming closer to everyone’s back door sooner than expected, or as Foucault would say, “We are much less Greeks than we believe. We are neither in the amphitheater, nor on the stage, but in the panoptic machine, invested by its effects of power.” With Democrats, including President Obama, driving the machine, everyone could be facing constant surveillance. The question is, “Will it work?”

Foucault’s “Discipline and Punishment” shows the criminal in the panoptic cell behaving a certain way because of the constant surveillance; however, one has to remember that the person is in a cell with all needs taken care of, such as food, water, clothing, etc., but these survival needs are not necessarily taken care of outside of the wall of the prison. For example, a hungry mother of four that lost her job several weeks ago may perhaps commit crimes in order to feed her children even when she knows that the shopping center has surveillance. The method Foucault projects on humans is an A+B=C formula. Humans (A) subjected (+) to constant surveillance (B) brings (=) expected behavior (C). One critical piece missing from the formula is the individual and the circumstance that the individual is placed in outside of the cell but still under constant supervision. Thus, the formula would be more complex, such as H∞+C∞+S≠O. What this means is that Humans (H) are individuals and truly uncountable at a given specific time (∞) with circumstances (C) that are individualized (∞) under constant surveillance will not give any (≠) specific outcome (O). Individuals will act unpredictably for survival.

If the Democrats think that passing the FISA bill will prevent any communication amongst terrorist groups (because the terrorists are being constantly observed) and stop the terrorist from committing criminal acts, they are wrong. Individuals are unpredictable. If the Democrats think that passing the FISA bill will give new information into terrorist groups, they are wrong. Terrorists are quite intelligent, considering they have the means to “hack into the United States’ Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle UAV." Why would the terrorist communicate important information by any electronic device? Maybe, the FISA is not for the terrorists at all. Maybe the FISA is the ultimate worldwide Panopticon, watching every move you and I make. If global Panopticonism is what the FISA seeks, one thing remains the same; humans are unpredictable. They may be able to watch, but they will not be able to truly predict.

Jason Freudenrich

The Democrats Panopticon