Big Brother is watching

By THOMAS R. WILES
Truckers Connection

5/16/2008

As a kid I remembered reading “1984” by George Orwell published in 1949 along with “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley published in 1932. Both of these books have become legendary classics and are often cited as being prophetic for the direction modern society is moving in. I decided it was high time to revisit both of these books, so I purchased the Audible.Com audio books through the iTunes store. Both of these works are absolutely excellent reads and I highly recommend them in audio book form.

As I was listening to these books, I realized that what was being described was the dark side of human nature, which has always been present.

Technological progress has for years continued to make our lives better. Many people see a dark side to ever-advancing technology. However, technology itself is just a neutral tool, in itself neither good nor bad.

Parents can track their kids’ cell phones to ensure they are where they are supposed to be, for instance, at school or within a certain geographic area. If little Johnny or Suzie’s cell phone goes out of a pre-determined area, there are now monitoring services available that allow the parent to be automatically notified by email or text message of the event. The parent might be a control freak, or he or she might be a responsible parent wanting to be reassured as to the physical location of their kids.

For quite a few years trucking companies have used technology to track trucks and communicate with drivers, improving dramatically the efficiency of trucking and logistics processes. Most drivers like having the Qualcomm “eye in the sky” present, but of course some see it as an intrusion. The company might have control freak tendencies, or maybe they just want to know that their drivers are okay and also be able to reassure the customer that his or her shipment is in good condition and on schedule to be delivered. If the truck breaks down on the side of the road, help is almost always just a Qualcomm message away. In the days before Qualcomm and cell phones, breaking down on the side of the road often left the driver stranded with no means of communication in frustrating or even dangerous circumstances.

Recently the Qualcomm in my truck was down for about a week, and I found it to be a terrific inconvenience. I had to spend quite a lot of time on the phone trying to get through to dispatch, and I ended up missing out on loads because the instant satellite communication ability was dead right along with the Qualcomm. Boy was I ever glad to get it back. This experience brought home to me just how much more efficient life as a driver has been made with the incorporation of instant two-way satellite communications.

Many companies today routinely monitor both incoming and outgoing employee email and overall computer usage. Internet monitoring and restriction practices become necessary in larger organizations simply because the vast entertainment opportunities offered by the web present themselves as irresistible to many employees, draining away productivity and possibly putting the employer in jeopardy if the employee is engaging in illegal Internet-related activities on the company’s network connection.

Technology affords the opportunity for every organization large and small to track and enforce policies. It is the policies themselves that can be sinister, not the technology used to enforce them. The two are often confused, with technology frequently taking the bum rap for troublesome policies.

So it is really the organizations and their policies that can be at fault. Unreasonable “control freak” or totalitarian tendencies must be guarded against. Technological advancements offer the opportunity for every workplace, organization and government entity to become a mini-totalitarian state if that controlling tendency is present.

Ever-advancing technology is here to stay, and it will continue to improve. It cannot be stopped. Therefore, the march towards totalitarianism is really the culprit of megalomaniac personalities, overly-controlling policies, and a voting populace that can easily be manipulated through the appeal to selfishness and other character flaws.

Like fire, technology is simply a tool. Controlled fire makes possible virtually every man-made object around us. However, an uncontrolled wildfire often can mean the wanton destruction of life, limb and property until it can eventually be brought under control and extinguished.

Email me with comments or questions at tom@truckerphoto.com. I do a mostly-daily MP3 audio podcast located at www.truckertompodcast.com where you can either listen online on your computer or download it to listen on a portable MP3 player.