One of these days I'm going to leave Britain… again.
I've just read this article, and I'm currently struggling to think of anything that sums up modern Britain more succinctly than the idea of local authorities deciding to use classical music as a weapon against yobs.
To be honest, although I was disturbed – as the author of the article obviously desired – for the first few paragraphs, by the time I got to this bit, I couldn't help laughing:
In Yorkshire in the north of England, the local council has started playing classical music through vandal-proof speakers at "troublesome bus-stops" between 7:30 PM and 11:30 PM. Shops in Worcester, Bristol, and North Wales have also taken to "firing out" bursts of classical music to ward of feckless youngsters.
In Holywood (in County Down in Northern Ireland, not to be confused with Hollywood in California), local businesspeople encouraged the council to pipe classical music as a way of getting rid of youngsters who were spitting in the street and doing graffiti. And apparently classical music defeats street art: The graffiti levels fell.
That I can see the funny side might be because I grew up here. I can imagine having quiet fun, keeping a straight face, using classical music as a weapon, too.
Then I read an article linked to in the text of this one, about CCTV. I hate CCTV. I hate ID cards. I hate the cold thuggery of surveillance, the nasty feeling of being in Britain and knowing that you're assumed guilty. Someday I will leave. This is from the second article:
Throughout the country are an estimated five million CCTV cameras; that's one for every 12 citizens. We have more than 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras, which, considering that Britain occupies a tiny 0.2 per cent of the world's inhab itable land mass, is quite an achievement. The average Londoner going about his or her business may be monitored by 300 CCTV cameras a day. Roughly 1,800 cameras watch over London's railway stations and another 6,000 permanently peer at commuters on the Underground and London buses. In other major city centres, including Manchester and Edinburgh, residents can expect to be sighted on between roughly 50 and 100 cameras a day.
And this:
British scientists, backed by the Ministry of Defence and a £500,000 government grant, are developing cameras with "gait recognition". These will recognise whether people are walking suspiciously or strangely, and alert a human operator. Think of it as the Ministry of Unfunny Walks.
And this:
Back at the control centre beneath the Trocadero, I start to feel uncomfortable watching other people. These are my fellow citizens; they are workers, mums pushing buggies, street cleaners, students. Yet, on the numerous TV screens, they become transformed into pixels of suspicion, individuals whose faces, even gaits, must be monitored by camera operators hidden underground. In essence, they are no longer free individuals; they are objects of suspicion.
Daniel Brown, the CCTV operative mentioned in the article says, "The way I see it, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about."
It's interesting that the rise in CCTV seems to have been accompanied by a rise in suspicion of and intolerance towards amateur photographers. When the authorities spy on us, apparently that's benevolent. When we spy back (even if we're not trying to spy at all) that is 'threatening and suspicious behaviour'. An amateur photographer is arrested here. A student is harassed here for filming buildings.
They judge us by their standards. They know the reasons they have for spying on us are not wholesome, but slyly aggressive, and that is why they become aggressive when they see us wield cameras.
I don’t see the point of trying to imagine worse situations in order to justify existing unpleasantness.Besides, what does ‘common people’ actually mean, anyway? If you look at the clips I’ve linked to you’ll see the ‘special constables’, or whatever they’re called, doing pretty much what you said. That is, in effect, common people being encouraged/allowed to harass and tell tales on people they simply regard as ‘suspicious’.
Anonymous writes:I shouldn’t have said common,more along the lines of anybody with access to a computer and a urge to tattle. I also mentioned this situation because I believe there doing it in my city which also has a load of cameras.
Anonymous writes:Meh, could always be worse. For instance they could allow common people to watch through the cameras and report suspicious behavior and be rewarded for it thereby encouraging tattle tales.
Whenever I hear news like this it always reminds me of Pop Will Eat Itself’s ‘City Zen Radio 1990/2000 FM’. I don’t know if you have heard it, it’s a brief little song. Here’s the lyrics:City Zen citizens walking pastHead down, heading for Nowhere fastKeeping ahead, Keep business busyMaking bizarre schemesTo make us dizzyNow I don’t knowWhat’s right or wrongI’m too wrapped upIn philosophical songBut we can offer our guidanceProffer our sussA stepping stone toA collective consciousnessNo ID cards! No poll taxes!When you score your own goalsYou need new backsWe’ve no time for bracketsOr boxes or cagesYou’re listening toThe rock of ages!
Is your city in the UK? If it is, then surely it’s not a question of ‘the situation could be worse’. That’s what the situation is. Are you happy about that situation? I presume the fact you’ve described it as “worse” means you’re not. But judging by the direction in which we are moving, things will, indeed, get worse and worse.
For some reason, I don’t find this stuff particularly threatening. I suppose I feel that, ultimately, when the shit hits the fan, the CCTV, ID cards and DNA databases are not going to save them.
Quentin S Crisp wrote:”These will recognise whether people are walking suspiciously or strangely, and alert a human operator…”Christsake! You might just have a bloody hard-on! What then..?
Whenever I hear news like this it always reminds me of Pop Will Eat Itself’s ‘City Zen Radio 1990/2000 FM’.I suppose I tend to think of Burroughs’ routine about remote control:”Authority figures, deprived of the vampiric energy they suck off their constituents, are seen for what they are – dead, empty masks, manipulated by computer. And what is behind the computer? Remote control, of course.” Something like that.I suppose I feel that, ultimately, when the shit hits the fan, the CCTV, ID cards and DNA databases are not going to save them.It might depend on how long it takes to hit the fan. In the meantime we may suffer increasing oppression. But I believe (at least hope) that you’re right, that all this surveillance, electric fences, etc., is a sign of weakness. They know their nemesis is coming.Christsake! You might just have a bloody hard-on! What then..?It depends on whether you have a license, I suppose.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100309/tuk-parents-angry-over-cctv-in-school-to-45dbed5.html