24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tables?

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24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tables?

Postby Elvis » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:13 pm

It seems to me that the surveillance state is backwards, that we ought to have our surveillance technology trained not on the citizens, but on the government. Twenty-four hours a day.

Maybe some arrangement could be made for brief periods of privacy (in shielded room, etc.), but to keep it simple let's say "24/7" streaming video on every member of Congress, the federal judiciary and the executive, including cabinet officials.

No more secret negotiations, no secret deals, no secret strategies. If you don't like it, don't seek or accept government office.

Of course there would be a thousand ways to get around the intent of such a plan, there are other problems with it, it would never work and the whole idea is probably ridiculous.

Or is it?
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby liminalOyster » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:20 pm

C-Span ULTRA
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby Elvis » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:37 pm


:yay Exactly!
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:55 pm

"Sousveillance" is a nice turn of phrase.

There are obvious security advantages to running Washington DC as a public access panopticon.
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby liminalOyster » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:04 pm

Alternatively, just straight-up move congress to a full-on panopticon structure and place each member in their own spartan cell for the duration of each session. Recess could be spent in the yard....
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby Elvis » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:25 pm

Wombaticus Rex » Sat Mar 18, 2017 3:55 pm wrote:"Sousveillance" is a nice turn of phrase.

There are obvious security advantages to running Washington DC as a public access panopticon.


Thank you! I hadn't heard of sousveillance; I haven't researched this at all, it's just a notion that keeps bubbling up.

Most RI'ers will remember this case:

Recording a situation is only part of the sousveillance process. Communicating is also important. Video-sharing sites such as YouTube and photo-sharing sites such as Flickr play a vital role. For example, police agents provocateur were quickly revealed on YouTube when they infiltrated a demonstration in Montebello, Quebec, against the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States (August 2007). When the head of the Quebec police publicly stated that there was no police presence, a sousveillance video showed him to be wrong. When he revised his statement to say that the police provocateurs were peaceful observers, the same video showed them to be masked, wearing police boots, and in one case holding a rock.
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby brekin » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:55 pm

If you turn the government into a prison only criminals will seek office.

Oh, wait, oh well, whatever, nevermind.
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Re: 24/7 Surveillance on government officials - turn the tab

Postby Iamwhomiam » Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:15 pm

Thanks for that Mr. WRex. New to me as well, sousveillance.

I hope our susveillance counter technology keeps apace.
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