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StackExchange
StackExchange
02:03
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Q: What would be the most extreme form of a surveillance state? And what would living/working in it look like?

HendrikFor a story, I try to create a perfect Orwellian state with the current state of technology. The government controls every aspect of its citizens daily life via constant automated surveillance (CCTV, biometric systems and wearable electronic devices), ministerial departments pass extreme anti-i...

technology near-future control
Michael Kjörling
Michael Kjörling
Don't forget cell phones, which especially in heavily populated areas can give you a very good idea (often down to blocks, at most) of where a person is simply by virtue of how it functions. Practically everyone carries a cell phone with them these days. They are also very good for tracking approximately where a person is at a given time and which other persons are nearby at that same time, and the data can trivially be stored to be looked at long after the fact.
See also: How can I transition from a democracy to a dictatorship, from within the government? which should give you plenty of ideas.
Hendrik
Hendrik
Thank you for the link. I'm still looking for the best electronic device to ensure permanent observation. Cellphones, Smartwatches, implanted microchips, etc. Maybe even some kind of bracelett, that works as transmitter and is mandatory to wear.
Donald Hobson
Donald Hobson
Compulsory neural implants that monitor and censor all thoughts. And surely there would be no such thing as a businessman, no companies, all work is for the state.
Vincent
Vincent
Did you know that CCTV is also the national tv station in China? Probably just a coincidence.
user34266
The title is a bit misleading since you're asking about an extreme form of tyranny using surveillance as its mechanism, rather than an extreme form of surveillance.
Nij
Nij
02:03
Look up the RPG 'Paranoia'. Some serious ideas there amongst the very black comedy.
KRyan
KRyan
Cross-posting some somewhat-relevant stuff from RPG SE: Fantasy surveillance state via necrotic cyst, How can PCs beat a Necrotic Cyst-based surveillance state? They’re fantastical rather than technological, and they’re based in the actual rules for a certain edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but there’s no reason that the bulk of the ideas cannot be transplanted to a technological narrative. And there are some really good ideas.
Thucydides
Thucydides
The Movie "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam uses comedic memes to tell the story, but in the end it is still a tragedy. The version of "1984" released in 1984, starring John Hurt, shows the terrifying stagnation of such a society. The Brezhnev era Soviet Union was also quite stagnant, and serves as a real life example. Some will say the suffocating conformity of US Universities under "Political Correctness" is an example of using social control rather than police surveillance. In almost all cases, the terror is enforced by the arbitrary nature of the arrests or public "shaming" being carried out.
Tomáš Zato
Tomáš Zato
Nobody mentioned The Sims?
Vorsprung
Vorsprung
surprised nobody mentioned Foucault. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticism
Darrel Hoffman
Darrel Hoffman
Just to add to the list of required reading/viewing on this subject, look for Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". It's in the same vein as 1984 and Brazil, though with the added element of forcing everyone into a state of dismal mediocrity in the name of equality.
J...
J...
02:03
You might also try reading We : Yevgeny Zamyatin. More modern, the film THX-1138.
frank
frank
I think it's quite a stretch calling our current society "free", in any meaningful sense of the term.
Eric Brown
Eric Brown
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Brave New World.
Rmano
Rmano
Not 100% the same thing --- but interesting, with a final twist... goodreads.com/book/show/1864240.Nowhere_on_Earth
lunchmeat317
lunchmeat317
Read Brave New World, and also read a book called Feed (by M. T. Anderson; although it's not focused on government per se, it deals with the technological aspect well). Then, go watch Equilibrium (or maybe read Fahrenheit 451, though they're a bit different in details), and go watch Gattaca. Between these, I think you'll find a lot of good answers.
Vim
Vim
@Vincent so does it have any other meaning than China Central Television? Curious to know.
Richard
Richard
02:03
I'm struggling to see how these people are "oppressed". They seem very happy.
 
3 hours later…
Law29
Law29
05:16
Another book on the subject is Kallokain (Karin Boye, 1940). The main protagonist lives in an oppressive state (Orwell's 1984 was nine years later...) and invents a perfect truth drug.
 
2 hours later…
Iwillnotexist Idonotexist
Iwillnotexist Idonotexist
06:54
As I mentioned in a comment under the top-voted answer, another example is The Giver, a society socially but not technologically similar to the one OP describes.

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