Details surrounding the federally funded street lights that double as omnipresent surveillance devices aren’t getting any less creepy. A Deputy Homeland Security Director told FOX Charlotte, “you would never know” if Big Sis was watching, a quote that wouldn’t look out of place in George Orwell’s 1984.
And we’re not just saying that for dramatic effect – the idea that you could never be certain whether or not Big Brother was watching and the feeling of constantly under suspicion is a dominant theme in the 1949 dystopian novel that depicted a totalitarian state under which the population is kept under constant government surveillance.
“If the city installed street lights with surveillance abilities… you would never know,” Charlotte’s Deputy Homeland Security chief was quoted as saying.
Just like the inhabitants of Oceania had telescreens that watched their every movement, recorded their conversations and displayed propaganda messages, Americans are set to be treated the same using ‘smart’ street lights now being installed in major cities across the country.
And just like Winston Smith was encouraged by the telescreens to inform on thought criminals, these street lights will feature messages from Janet Napolitano encouraging to Americans to report on each other for “suspicious activity”.
But unlike Orwell’s 1984, Intellistreets won’t have to rely on children denouncing their parents for making subversive statements, the system’s ability to record private conversations will make that process so much more efficient.
The FOX Charlotte report also also divulges a new way in which the street lights will be used to keep tabs on Americans who dare leave their houses. The system is linked directly in with local police. If the sensors in the street lights pick up any movement at certain hours of the day, authorities are alerted, making the enforcement of curfews much easier.
Since the makers of the devices have exploited the wave of publicity first kicked off by our story to stress how the street lights can be used for “homeland security” purposes to ‘keep people safe’ while also saving energy, the federal government immediately declared them to be ‘doubleplusgood’ and they are now being installed in major cities like Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh with the aid of funding from the Department of Energy.
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com