Overpopulation as a Cause for The Rise of the Surveillance State

I have lived in many different settings - from tribes of 20 in the middle of the desert to metropolitan cities such as Tokyo and New York. Each time, I couldn't help but notice how people's behavior changed when found in a crowd of strangers vs being around family and friends. It is not hard to guess that, when people know each other, they tend to behave righteously to the eyes of those whom they are familiar with. Crowds of strangers incite one to act in ways that harm other people because simply, the individual does not even register the rest as real people. Self interest and survival at all costs kick in. Nature doesn't care about individuals. It only cares about the propagation of the best by any means possible. Ethics are irrelevant.

Notice how I avoided using the word "moral" because I believe it is a erroneous and misleading word. What was moral 500 years ago in a given context such as Christian rule under the Spanish Inquisition could not be compared with lets say Shinto ruled Japan. People's morals changed based on the ecosystem one is found. Resources and climate are the two most important aspects that drive a group of people into a certain type of morality.

This poses a peculiar dilemma for today's world. As of recently, China announced a point system were every citizen will is watched and graded based on their behavior. For some this might sound like a nightmare but for many others it is a blessing. The argument is still the classic between security and freedom. One has to sacrifice the other in order to be able to live in a modern 21st century city. The masses will always pick security over freedom. The rules are the same whether you are buffalo in a massive herd or a human in a huge city. There is safety is numbers and you won't mind sacrificing some freedom for your safety.

China is clearly one of the places that are heavily overpopulated. We often see videos of children in big cities being abandoned or people being run over by cars and just being ignored. This would never happen in a small Chinese village were people know each other. In other words, It is not the people that make the difference but the numbers per square meter. Much like with animals, one cat in our neighborhood might turn out to be the lovable shared pet. 1,000 cats in the same tiny square will classify them as pests and it would be deemed necessary to intervene violently in order to solve the problem.

This is what is happening in today's surveillance state. Overpopulation might be the single most catastrophic part for a society or an ecosystem. Authorities are trying to dictate ethos and morality by setting up cameras that monitor behavior. It has been long proved even with simple soulless cardboard police figures that crime drops significantly when present. Yes humans are not that smarter than birds when they face scarecrows in an open field. In other words, in the face of potential deterrents, whether real or not, we think twice. At the same time, we are more likely to invent new ways to get around Big Brother.

The good news is that the world population is slowly diminishing. It is expected that by 2050 we will reach a top and from there a slow decline will supposedly bring an equilibrium. People abandon big cities and move to moral rural areas. The current generation is having less offspring and more pets. Real estate is at all time high and it is expected to fall because housing is simply not affordable. This is all good news since in smaller, less crowded neighborhoods we are all more likely to feel more safe and retaliate less and less for events that might jeopardize our freedom.