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?