The Future is Now – 9/11, CCTV, and Our Brave New World
by Ursula Drees

Movies such as “1984”, “The Truman Show”, “Starship Troopers”, or “Minority Report” are regarded as imaginations of the impossible and unthinkable. The future they depict seems too bleak (if not absurd) for many to accept. Mankind defines itself as an individualised, authentic civilisation, whose independence and freedom is steadily increasing. We will nevertheless argue that these movies describe possible future scenarios and models of life under constant and unrestricted surveillance. The result will be a uniform and standardised civilisation. Several actual developments will be combined to make this future outlook too soon a reality. Thus, “1984´s” “Big Brother” may easily become a pale imitation of reality.

In “Minority Report”, everybody´s irises are constantly scanned, one´s identity is recognized and a connection to a database is made. Thus, wherever you walk, you receive special offers, according to your previous buys, your size, and your likings. Furthermore, individual traffic is heavily controlled: not only are speed and destination to be pre-set, the authorities can gain full control over one´s car. The combination of biometrically based surveillance and interconnected databases provides for instant location of any individual.......

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