I am not in favor of a surveillance state like Big Brother in the movie 1984, but I do see a plus side to it where crime and punishment are concerned.  For example, the FCC can levy up to $40,000 and two years in prison for the act of transmitting without a license.  Now that’s draconian for transmitting without a license.

Right now we have draconian punishments because we know the majority of crimes will go undetected and so rely on these punishments to serve as a deterrent.  Scientifically it doesn’t work but legislators don’t pass laws that work, they pass laws that appeal to peoples emotional sensitivities which unfortunately have little to do with reality.

This new surveillance society will bring about a state of affairs where the certainty of being caught will approach 100%.  Then if we throw everyone who is caught in prison we’ll have 99% of our population locked up.  That won’t work because the remaining 1% can’t sustain the 99% locked up and so we will have to look at more sensible alternatives which will include not making it illegal to breath and making punishments more reasonable.

And for society that will be a good thing because what has been proven scientifically, is that a less severe punishment with a 100% probability of being caught is a much more effective deterrent than a severe punishment with a small percentage being caught.

It will also level the playing field a bit because when everything is recorded, it will be more difficult for the rich and powerful to exempt themselves.

If you go to WikiLeaks and look at some of the atrocities that took place in Iraq, the intentional killing of civilians and the complete lack of respect for life.  The video of those things becoming available is resulting in people being held accountable.  It is also the reason the banks did everything they could to try to cut off funding, because the people behind these wars, profiting from these wars, don’t want to be held accountable.

Well, that’s a big plus in my book. So in as much as I don’t like the evolving surveillance state, I do see some positive aspects of it.