In the 73-year-old dystopian novel, 1984, written by George Orwell, he made many predictions that have been eerily accurate. Some would say that we live in a version of that dystopia today, albeit with a few twists. The “Big Brother” and “Thought Police” aspects of the novel are but two of the many totalitarian horrors predicted.
As a refresher, totalitarianism is a form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and subordinates all aspects of life to the authority of the state. Benito Mussolini coined the term “totalitario” to characterize his brand of fascism in Italy. Various iterations of totalitarianism materialized in Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, and Stalin’s Russia. We may soon add another name to this list.
I now bring you to our post-Roe America and the erosion of personal freedoms sponsored by the religious right. With nine states with near-total bans on abortions, some of those states are discussing restricting travel for pregnant women who might be seeking an abortion in another state. How might that be enforced you might ask, without invading the medical privacy of women? I somehow doubt that privacy will be much of an obstacle given other erosions of our freedoms to satisfy their visions of the Republic of Gilead.
So, how do you control travel between our “free” states? Just consider ALPRs and you may have your answer. Yes, those cameras mounted on street poles, overpasses, etc., have automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, and state and local police currently use them to issue speeding tickets, collect tolls, or locate stolen cars. What is there that would prohibit them from tracking vehicles owned by pregnant women, Planned Parenthood, or other such organizations? Not much.
The government is not the only source of this information. Private companies like Flock Safety and Motorola Solutions have cameras mounted on commercial vehicles and can capture license plate numbers on passing cars and sell that data to other businesses. One current use is for car repossession outfits. Flock Safety is in use in 1,500 cities and captures over one billion plate numbers every month. Anyone with access to this data can gather location data related to a license plate and, depending on the density of cameras, could track a person's travel. As license tags are in the open, no warrant is needed.
With the newly minted originalist-leaning Supreme Court moving all manner of rights to the individual states, can the Thought Police be far behind? That same SCOTUS is also considering allowing state legislatures to have the sole power to set the rules for elections and that those decisions cannot be reviewed by state courts.
If that comes to pass, once a party gains control of a state legislature, they could gerrymander to their heart's content, limit ballots by mail, control the location of polling places, and basically pass laws that would allow their party to dominate in future elections. There would be no judicial review. Trump supporters advocated that position in 2020 and at least four of the Supremes (not the music group) found merit in that argument.
In Orwell’s book, the hero is Winston Smith whose job it is to rewrite history for the Ministry of Truth so that that truth aligns with current political thinking. By that measure, the truth is not the truth. Slavery in America was merely “involuntary relocation.” The truth is only what people in power wish it to be. Why does this all sound so familiar?
I would continue with this piece, but my smartwatch is telling me that I need to get up and move around and Alexa just reminded me that I was running low on Tylenol. She told me she would be glad to reorder a bottle if I just say, “yes.” The large red bottle of acetaminophen was displayed on my Alexa Show screen, right below her camera. Perhaps she saw me rubbing my temples. At least she knows I won’t be getting pregnant and that she doesn't need to report my travel plans. I’m sure, only Jeff Bezos knows what I am up to.
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
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