LETTER

The end of civil rights 

In my home country, the United Kingdom, cameras are everywhere and surveillance is total.  A few years ago, it was calculated that there was a camera for every 14 people and the average Briton is photographed over 300 times a day.  Since then. the number of cameras has skyrocketed and cameras are not just to watch people in the street, but are mounted on lampposts, able to target inside rooms, to ensure that you are watched 24/7.   In fact, the average Brit is filmed more than a contestant on Big Brother.  Not satisfied with just watching you, speakers have also been added, sending out orders such as “Pick up that piece of litter someone else dropped” which, if not obeyed, result in stiff punishments.

Computer controlled, tickets are sent out automatically, and with most municipal courts replaced with another computer, once the electronic ticket reaches the municipal computer court, you’re guilty and face crippling fines.  A garbage bin lid left open or minor traffic offences can bankrupt you.  

Worse, human behavioural programmes, can class you as a “thief” or “terrorist” based on ridiculous assumptions by the computers.  Lighting a cigarette in an unusual way might bring extreme consequences.

So, how did civil rights die in England?  The British were the proverbial frog being boiled in a pan of water, it happened little by little.  And how did it all start?  I remember that vividly and it was why I left in 1996 foreseeing the future that has turned out to be worse than I feared.  It all began with photographs in the local press of councillors proudly standing in front of photo-radar devices.  So thanks Audrey Bureau and the other councillors for being so committed to obliterating civil rights in this country!

We should all weep for our nation, for civil rights in Canada are o-v-e-r.

Robert L Thompsett

Hull