Taking Pictures of People Taking Pictures.

And the winner is…

David Cameron, obviously. We all saw it coming. Not enough people wanted to stop it. A fruitless attempt to become Liberal saw us fall down. An attempt? Or perhaps we’re too easily sold to these days? Were we expecting some sort of post-election cooling off period during which we could change our minds if we didn’t like the smallprint? It would not entirely surprise me considering the current state of affairs. However, the Kingmaker came, he saw, he got a monk on. He went, made a deal but then reneged on the whole thing and went scarpering back under the Tory wing. Fine. We’ve seen a good man kicked when he’s down, like a pov kicked hard in the ribs by private-school boys wearing top hats. Good luck to them.
It pains me to say it, but I remember seeing at least one Conservative policy that interested me. It surrounds C.C.T.V, its ineffectiveness and a possible curtailing of this type of thing. I’d like that, not because my criminal career is in decline, but because I feel it has gotten very out of hand.
There are approximately 4.2 million C.C.T.V cameras functioning in the U.K currently. That’s one for every 14 people. These cameras take approximately 1 million pictures of each and every one of us every year. Feel safe? You betcha!
You may feel safer still if you are aware of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Introduced to U.K law back in a simpler time, to you know, give the police the power to stop you, search you and even arrest you for looking shifty, walking suspiciously or possibly even shopping indecisively. It’s ok though, they do this so the law-abiding majority can go about their day without fear. What if we were all to, say, start being unnecessarily scared? What would we do then? What if we all got scared of what might happen, instead of what is happening?
Bad news. We have, we are. We are not scared particularly of job losses and cuts in funding to the NHS, to our schools or to our lovely public transport network. We can’t see how much of an impact this will have. It’s irrational. We are naturally scared of being blown sky high on a bus or on a train; this is a rational fear, is it not? Have you ever moved away from that Asian looking fellow on the train because he had a rucksack on his lap? Have you ever wondered where that blatant terrorist got his new looking camera from, and why he’s taking pictures of local landmarks? ‘Look at him, he is definitely plotting something, shh – he has a camera!’
I’m ashamed to say that I have. Was this that vigilance thing they told us to be? Is vigilance vigilant? Or is it a product of conditioning by scary news which causes me to be scared of other people, scared to the point where I sweat and am forced to endure heart palpitations? Would the powers that be have an easier time of things if we all became socially inept enough to render us unable to work together as one when we have to unite against a real and oppressive threat? Am I too paranoid? I know now that I was in those instances, but at the time the fear was palpable. It was real enough for me to actually speculate, and conjure such ridiculous thoughts. Why did I think that? I’m not insane, there must be a reason.
Well fear not Britain, because Section 44 is designed to make you fear such rational fears less. It can do wonders for your health; it combats stress and alleviates anxiety by allowing us to take no more! No longer shall we fidget nervously on a train while that strange looking person rummages for his IPod in his bag. Have him searched properly. Let’s make sure he’s not up to no good. No more will you have to endure tourists taking pictures of your rubbish town centre, simply summon up a P.C.S.O and have him arrested!
Thank whomever for the people in charge; I’m relieved that they care so much. It almost makes me happy that they take a million pictures of me every year, even if I am picking my nose on some of them. It also takes the sting out of the fact that I can no longer take my kids to the park to feed the ducks and take some innocent photos for the family album. Perhaps when all is said and done, they’ll let me have access to C.C.T.V footage of my children so I can glean some grainy photographs of them appearing to vaguely have fun. It could be a state sponsored birthday present, an annual event for the proles, something to look forward to…
I’m actually glad that we the public are so terrified of some paedo-terrorist atrocity being committed to us all simultaneously at any second that we can get stopped and searched for no reason, that we can have our cameras confiscated for no reason and that we can’t litter whilst it happens. I would gratefully give up my freedom of speech and right to trial too if only you could just make terrorism go away…
Crime is falling. Fear of crime is rising. Is crime falling because the lawmakers and enforcers are doing a stand up job? If so, what’s the problem with all this red tape crap we hear so much about? Is fear of crime rising because C.C.T.V cameras are everywhere (for our own protection from an unknown and therefore terrifying threat) and more and more people are being searched for no reason and the police have underlings to enforce the rules? Is there a reason for this? Are the ends justifying the means? We are all frightened, apparently. End to the mean I reckon.
We are conditioned to think what ‘they’ want us to think by means of biased news coverage and uninspiring, insipid entertainment. We are conditioned to act how ‘they’ want us to act through micromanagement of our day-to-day activities and the monitoring of our movements. Those who care carry all this out in our name. They must be doing it for a reason though, and that reason is our own safety and The Greater Good. So what if we can’t take pictures of our families growing up? It’s a small price to pay for safety. So what if we will no longer be able to leaf through a family photo album and relive the memories we have. All it really means is that history can be altered in the future, so what happened is what we are told happened presumably. In a generation’s time, unless something changes, we will have forgotten about fuel protests and anti-war marches, we won’t feel the need to try to make a change because change will be unprecedented. We will just do as we’re told, fearing the eye in the sky as subtly as we can manage, and we will lead our uniformed lives as someone else sees fit. Maybe. Or play some C.O.D 2033 in 3D on a KissBox5000.
Too much? I hope so, I also hope that there is some hypocrisy hidden in the fact that we cannot take pictures of each other, yet we’re all photographed by the state. Do they not want us to see, or are they worried we might remember?

Interjection.

What has a yellow streak and cold, blue feet?

Apparently, it’s the average Liberal Democrat voter.. I’m tired and therefore irritable; I know it’s not your fault really…

Last night’s election extravaganza then, compelling viewing yeah? It really did look as if it was anyone’s race for quite some time, until reality bit and it all became depressingly clear. At the time of writing, Cameron is heading for the most seats by quite some margin yet without an overall majority. Clegg is heading for less seats than even Charlie ‘drunkychops’ Kennedy could muster for the Lib Dems last time around (that’ll be the aesthetic vote for you, easily turned off that fickle bunch) whilst Labour, at the moment, just look happy to still be there.
Therefore, a hung parliament seems inevitable, I mean, look at the state of it. It is well fucking hung. This outcome is supposedly the worst-case scenario… Really? Worse than a Conservative majority? Worse than an outright victory for Cameron? Times must be bad when the ‘worst-case scenario’ is the best we can hope for.
Amidst all the hype surrounding T.V debates, Leaders wives’ feet, and whether or not we should dare to change, throughout the live and unrelenting 24 hour rolling news coverage the same issue cropped up as the ‘number one priority’ numerous times. The one concern quickly spun under the rug. The Economy. According to some opinion polls somewhere, The Economy is presumably the countries’ primary worry. The huge deficit we have to claw back from somewhere did not seem to be given much precedence to me, as far as Clegg, Cameron and co. were concerned. It was all Brown had.
Essentially, our economy is fucked. What’s worse is that in the event of a hung parliament, our stock falls further still in the eyes of the global economical community and our current economical crisis gets crisiserer. This means that whoever takes the top job over the next few days will have to implement massive cuts in spending. Public services will struggle, jobs will be lost, taxes will more than likely increase and benefits across the land may well be cut. Don’t worry though, the big shiny shopping centre in your town centre will probably survive, as will, I am sure, a few pubs and clubs however, has anyone noticed that the further you venture out from your respective town’s economical epicentre, the drearier everything’s beginning to look? The whole shebang appears to have taken on a siege mentality, the wagons are circling and everything outside the circle will wither and die because their supply line has been severed. Those supplies, by the way, are you, the customer with money, the consumer. So do they stand and fight? No, they either give up or, if they can afford the exorbitant rent, move inside the circle.
I’m not entirely sure if it’s the same here as most places however, much ado has been made frequently regarding our high streets all over the country becoming alarmingly uniform. Coffee shop. Bookshop. Clothes shop. Pub, HMV, Tesco. Repeat. Therefore, I’d presume that the great Consumer Ambush doesn’t just happen here. However you travel, by bus, train or car, all paths lead to the shopping centre. Buses and trains arrive directly beneath the behemoth; cars are herded into the car park above. You can then either take the escalator directly to the food court or opt for a lift to deposit you bang in the middle of your shopping centre’s flagship store.
The moment you step out on to the shiny floor, the lighting, the cleanliness, the mood music and the smells assault your senses. Even the colour schemes in these places are designed to captivate you before they hypnotise you into spending your readies on things you do not need. A few months ago, your hypnotic and frenzied spending was called ‘boosting the economy’ for a bit until V.A.T went back up, it then reverted to being merely ‘staving off the misery’ once more.
Is there a reason why we all seem to be so susceptible to such subtle techniques? Or are we just suckers? Are we in fact conditioned to succumb to even the slightest indication that we should buy this, watch that, eat here? Who’s done this to us, and how? What’s the reason?
Some say it’s merely psychology. Certain colours and sounds trigger certain responses in our brains. Red and yellow for example make you feel hungry, allegedly. I can buy into this, but it makes me wonder how far back down the line the chemistry in our mind started to associate these colours with hunger. ..
In any case, I appear to have lost the plot and the red and yellow thingy brings us, more or less, full circle. Is a coalition of Labour and the Liberal Democrats likely? No. Clegg has indicated that he would be inclined to form alliances with the party who receives the most votes. So a Clegg and Cameron scheme team it is and the cuts they are going to have to make in order to pull the economy from the doldrums mean that it is highly unlikely, after this term, that either will ever be re-elected again.

Every cloud…

The Reason? That is the Point.

Complacency then, defined as ‘self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness or deficiencies.’

So, are we satisfied, and why? Satisfaction to me suggests that we feel we’ve done enough, that we have achieved all we can, and can do no more, we’re happy. That does not feel right… what is the word? Comfortable, maybe? How about tranquilised? That works for me, sedated and subdued too, for that matter. They all mean the same.
I feel numb. It’s the conditioning you see. Are we all so willing to believe what we’re told that it is becoming impossible to rouse ourselves from slumber and raise even an eyebrow in discontent?
I am sorry, that’s a little unfair. I have seen public outrage recently, and so have you. John Terry, Ashley Cole, Tiger Woods et al. wound everybody right up did they not? I cannot believe the audacity of some of these rich and famous people, honestly. Do they have no morals? I can tell you hand on heart that if I was a multi-millionaire sportsman with a very attractive wife and a day job the envy of millions around the world then the absolute last thing I would be doing is going out and having sex with a thousand people.
Why do we, the public, love a good scandal so much? Is there nothing to watch on T.V? Television, quickly becoming the bane of existence, solely responsible for the adulterated news content we see in the tabloids – they watch that, they're going to love this! Boobs! Gossip! Look who’s fat now! It’s scary when it is just mind-numbing enterstainment, designed to wash away your actual concerns for a while, as a form of escapism. It is almightily terrifying when it starts to influence things that actually matter.
We can talk about current affairs now, you know, that cause célèbre thing again; it’s all about the General Election at the minute. Interestingly, Television is playing a bigger part than ever this time around with the introduction of the sometimes maligned and all too well publicised Live Leaders Debates.
How tired are we all exactly? Well, this was one hell of a way to find out. I can only really feign so much interest, I can only really think for myself but hey, I can read opinion polls like a motherflipper, and everything seems to indicate that we're so fed up with the current state of affairs that suddenly, inexplicably, we've all become Liberal Democrats. There has to be a reason for this… yeah, I reckon it is T.V. Who’s going to tell me it’s something else? It can’t be their policies… We want change, apparently. I agree. We need it. Frankly, when Mr. Clegg says he wants to hand the power back to the people it sounds great, but is this not merely rhetoric? “Voters love Clegg but hate his policies” The Sunday Times bitterly spat this weekend. Is the man alone really a good enough reason to vote Liberal Democrats? Apparently, he is, and this would not have been possible without T.V and those debates. Manifesto? Reading? Look at the sincerity in his eyes though! Why vote for Cleggy, what’s the reason? It is surely no coincidence that Mr Clegg’s popularity and public adulation corresponds with us actually finding out who he was. “Who’s that one? He’s different, he must be that change everyone’s on about!”
I can’t work it out. Surely, anyone with a vested interest in who’s running this country would certainly do more than take these things, these people at face value? Or are we all happy enough to be sold a flawed ideology by a pretty face because it appears new and interesting? Does it make you feel a bit naughty? This is not Weight Watchers and Nick Clegg is not chocolate.
I would like to think that most of us have seen through the façade presented to us by David Cameron of Conservative fame, though sadly this does not appear to be the case either.
This all makes me doubt myself a little, but not too much. In David Cameron, we have a man who appears to have conditioned himself to be able to ‘talk to anyone on any level’, come across as a Bloody Nice Chap, charming, helpful and clean. To my mind, this is quite condescending. Why feel the need to create a public persona or to become a social chameleon? Could David Cameron not just be himself? I sincerely doubt that would work. Image only works so far in print, but on Television, you can charm millions in one fell swoop. He is chasing Labour voters after all and as far as my limited understanding of things that occur would have me believe, no matter how downtrodden, disaffected and bigoted (I made a joke) the average Labour voter is, a cup of tea with a multi-millionaire in shiny shoes who is visibly trying not to cringe in disgust at his current surroundings (your house) whilst simultaneously wondering if his car has been stolen (by your kids) isn’t going to cut the mustard. Far be it from me to say it’s easy, but I reckon I could beat Gordon Brown in a popularity contest these days, even if he is the best man for the job.

So the influence of media is my reason, and our discontent my point. It appears we are getting desperate and when that happens things tend to go wrong. Think what can happen when people are desperate enough, go on, imagine it…