Re: Living in the mind of Big Brother -HBPPM-

From Perception Control <hacktivism@disinfo.net>
Date 11 Nov 2000 00:37:29 -0000


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On Fri, 10 Nov 2000 18:34:18 +0000 (GMT) Lorax <lorax@dojo.tao.ca> wrote:
>I take offense at the idea of "Perception Control" or "Perception Management", as these
>are the very things that should be worked against by activists everywhere!  :)  On behalf of 
>free thinking minds, I object!

Read the Hacktivist Bureau of Public Perception Management Manifesto, it should explain more or less why we use that term. Our motto is, after all "Using their tools against them". I'll post the website address when it is up, but it should still be in the archives on Hacktivism.

>> One of Big Brother’s greatest feats, thus far, has been in convincing a large portion of the planet’s populace that Big Brother doesn’t exist, that Big Brother is just a common delusion of paranoiacs everywhere.
>
>Thinking of "Big Brother" as a singular or cohesive entity is a common delusion.  
>While it does provide for the creation of entertaining manefestos, I think it 
>does harm to the credability of genuine concerns for personal freedom and privacy, which
>I think of as "security of the person".  

I think you misunderstand, I do not, nor does anyone to my knowledge, actually think Big Brother is a "singular or cohesive entity" in your own words. It is a metaphor, a powerful metaphor and one that is easily recognisable as such.

>The 'real world' threat to us is much less global government collusion and much more
>ignorance and the usual corporate mandate for shareholder value above all else.  The 
>power that a corporation wields in government is far greater than the access available
>to citizens of that government, which allows for demographic collection and monitoring,
>each byte of data increasing the monitary value of the details known about your life and
>lifestyle.  That is the threat, when your phone line is monitored for 'quality assurance',
>and the location of your ATM and credit cards are tracked with each transaction, when 
>the shipping company inspects your packages for 'contraband', where each channel changed
>on your cable box shapes ratings, when facial recognition packages are attached to the 
>security cameras at McDonalds let head office know if you wanted fries.   :)  


I believe I covered corporations in the essay. Read it again. Life in the future is going to be a cross between William Gibson's corporate rule, and George Orwells Big Brother scenario. We must be prepared for this eventuality.

HBPPM is for Hacktivists everywhere and you are welcome to join, write your own essays and get your own views across. Having a singular view is counterproductive and we would welcome you.

The Pr0phet



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