Thursday 16 February 2012

Big Brother

I'm not going to voice any political comments on this blog. I'll save them for the dinner table over a glass of wine but one of the biggest changes in the last 12 years is the amount of "surveillance" in every day life. My identity card number now defines all aspects of my life.  It usually doesn't bother me too much as I try to keep my head down, so why was I so unsettled this week when I had to give my fingerprints before I could get a new driving licence?  In the past I didn't like going to Muḡla to give blood in order to get married: was annoyed at having to get my husband's permission to start a business, and nipping down to the notary to record every purchase and sale seemed excessive,  but  I accepted it without much heartache. The finger-printing came across as overly intrusive. It may be because  I associate being finger-printed with being suspected of a crime.  The nice police lady suggested I keep a copy of my prints as I will need them frequently in the future. For the life of me I can't think why.

4 comments:

  1. I had a lot to say then wiped it off...I don't need a government agency breathing down my neck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This really is all getting totally out of hand. Like you I was annoyed at having to be blood tested when I got married, and I was even more furious at being asked to take a pregnancy test, even though I explained that I had had a hysterectomy. I stood my ground over that one and they eventually backed down.
    Fingerprints...a step too far in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I’d keep mum on those subjects that get the authorities hot under the collar. We all know what they are. Liam and I have had a number of conversations with British expats who complain bitterly that Blighty has turned into surveillance state with CCTV on every corner. These same people think nothing of being routinely stopped by the police, being required by law to carry ID at all times, required to tell the authorities their every movement and required to supply enough copies of their passports to supply the secret service for decades. Ironic, I think. And now I hear of finger printing, blood and pregnancy tests. Blimey!

    ReplyDelete
  4. . . it's all part of getting ready for 'The Rapture' - need to know who IS and who ISN'T. Seriously, the terrorism thing is a joke and a cover - these people know that there is a reckoning coming as the system grinds on towards a total corporate fascist system. The current head of the Rothchild Empire is on the record for wanting all of the plebs and peons micro-chipped. Everything we do will then be tracked (along with us) and if we step out of line our chip is turned off and that's it - no bank, no shop, no nothing! Welcome to the New World Order!

    ReplyDelete