Ubiquitous video: for good or evil?
Friday, June 5, 2020 at 12:15PM 
He knows when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Big Brother is Watching You
George Orwell
My parents, like many, obtained somewhat better behavior from my siblings and me by invoking the old threat that Santa was watching us - at least during the month before Christmas. "Bad" children got coal, not candy, in their stockings. The rest of the year its seemed either Jesus or God monitored our behavior, the type of which would send us either to heaven or hell at some later date.. Perhaps this is why I've never been a huge fan of universal surveillance. Being naughty was a good deal more fun than behaving oneself.
I shared this anti-monitoring distaste as I discussed Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four with the high school juniors I taught. Above my classroom's intercom box (where we knew Principal Crabtree sometimes listened in without announcing himself) hung a student made poster that read "Big Brother is Listening to You."
More recently science fiction books like Egger's The Circle, Suarez's Freedom, and Kavenna's Zed have explored the implications of corporate and governmental surveillance cameras, painting a disturbing environment in which human freedom is greatly curtailed by overreach. Happily, my biases were confirmed by reading them.
And we have certainly seen video monitoring increase in stores, intersections, parking ramps, hotel hallways, and who know where else. I did NOT like the threat of either Santa or local law enforcement watching me going through intersections with only a "California" stop. Homeowners are installing doorbell cameras to go along with baby (and spouse?) monitors within the home itself. While I don't really think I've ever done too much that I would mind being recorded, I still didn't like the idea of it.
But my views shifted last week.
I, along with millions of other horrified viewers, watched the gruesome death of George Floyd - because someone in the gathered crowd took a video of the incident. No conflicting eyewitness accounts. No deep fake digital manipulations. Just flat out proof by means of a movie of a white police officer killing a black man who was already restrained and pleading for his life. The abstraction of racial bias and police brutality was no longer just a concept, but a frightening reality for anyone to actually see.
Would the officers involved have behaved differently had they known they were being recorded? I don't know.
I'd like to think that most humans behave decently because they are at heart decent people, not because they may be punished. My friends and family respect others, empathize, practice kindness, act charitably, and preserve the environment, and I doubt worry a whole lot about heaven or hell. But for those who do break the law, destroy the environment, mistreat their children, or abuse minorities, would the knowledge that their every move is recorded alter their behavior? Did red light running decrease with intersection videos? Did shoplifting decrease with in-store cameras?
While I am deeply saddened that Mr. Floyd was killed, I am grateful it was captured on a video that may be the spark needed to light fires of reform. Would more such sparks be made were cameras ubiquitous?
Reader Comments (2)
It frightens and horrifies me to know the police KNEW they were being taped and murdered the George Floyd anyway. I also believe they know there is a better than 50/50 chance they will not be held accountable.
Hi Jim,
I don't remember reading whether the police knew they were being filmed or not. The video HAS to help in getting a conviction.
Doug