Hmm … if you work for the federal government, all of the information they have collected about you over the years will soon be on sale for criminals to exploit. But don't worry – you get free credit monitoring for a year.
On the other hand, it could be the Russians or Chinese who busted into Fort Hard-knocks and stole all there was to steal about you. If that's the case, there will probably be a delay as they cull out the background and blackmailable information before they dump the rest on the cyber-criminal marketplace. Intelligence agencies aren't cheap to run, you know. Somebody has to pay the bills.
I wonder if that means a Russian or Chinese spy will soon be impersonating you, showing up at your workplace and doing your job for you? Does that mean he will collect your check for you, too?
Governments everywhere have always wanted to be omniscient. Big Data, domestic espionage and forever retention down to your Google searches and website visits means they are finally close to that goal. With omniscience comes omnipotence. Step out of line, and we will know. And what we know we can punish. The tyranny of the masses and democratic rule is nearly over. Long live elitist tyranny and Big Data. Ask the East Germans how that worked out for them.
I notice that back in 1965 the U.S. government employed about 5.215 million people. The Internet didn't exist. Big Data was a magnetic tape drive or a stack of punch cards wrapped together with a rubber band. In 2014, the number of federal employees was 4.185 million.
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We actually had more employees back in 1965. All the extra, however, were military. So here's my question: How did the federal government do its job back in 1965, before Big Data, the Internet and desktop computers?
While you're working out the answer, I'll ask my second question. If having all this information is so critical, why is it hooked up over the Internet? Was this the first time criminals or foreign agents have ever stolen information over the Internet? Has human nature changed much during recorded history?
Does anybody who was alive back in 1965 actually think the federal government works better today than it did back then? (Yes, OK, the woman in the back with her hand up, collecting 10 Social Security checks each month while waiting for fast-tracked amnesty thinks so. Thank you, Ma'am.)
Big Data, of course, is always a panacea – for the ignorant and uninitiated. Oh, let's put everybody's health records online! Prescription drug errors will drop to zero! And eventually we won't need doctors at all! And that's a good thing – because when they get tired of being data entry clerks who are paid accordingly, you won't have any doctors. But rest in peace. The same people who brought you the health exchanges will be programming the new doctorless medical office.
Government doesn't need all the information it collects to do its job. It only needs all that information in the event it becomes necessary to coerce individual citizens into doing its bidding while sacrificing their freedom, dignity and privacy in the process.
Every new bullet train to the future that humanity boards seems to encounter eerily similar problems during its journey. It couldn't be us, could it? Back when Palm Pilot devices were in their heyday, I saw an aviation cartoon with a very alarmed airline passenger sitting in his seat, holding his Palm Pilot. The screen said, "New Device Detected. Connect to Boeing 747?"
It looks like we have made that connection. Have a safe and enjoyable trip.
I couldn't write a "Left Behind" style Armageddon Story. So I didn't. Volume II is getting its editorial review and cover now. The ePub version of volume I is also out. Here's how I view novel writing.
Media wishing to interview Craige McMillan, please contact [email protected].
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