Big Brother, human rights and parenting

Big Brother is watching you

Lately, I've been thinking about Big Brother. Well, not government, but the metaphor, "Big Brother". First coined by George Orwell in his book, 1984, the phrase "Big Brother" has come to symbolize abusive government and complete and total cultural control by and for the government.

It is interesting and even plain to see that "Big Brother" is watching us. Intelligence agencies monitor our every word by email, text and tweet. They monitor our movements with our cell phones. They claim it is all for the sake of national security, to protect us from "Terrorism", with a capital T. Global Research finds that actual fatalities from acts of terrorism are remarkably rare. The odds of you or someone you know being injured or even killed from a terrorist attack are remote:

– You are 35,079 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

– You are 33,842 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

Cancer and heart disease are the two biggest killers in the United States, yet we do not see the enormous effort to marshal and reallocate our resources to those two diseases as killers in the same way as we do for terrorism. Even security researcher, Bruce Schneier, calls most of what we see in the airports, "security theater". I submit that if terrorism requires us to relinquish any rights protected under the Constitution, then the terrorists have won the war, hands down.

Big Brother as metaphor

The term, "Big Brother" is a metaphor for abuse of government power. Even Orwell himself was the subject of surveillance by the state for his unflattering views of government, and he knew it. He was letting us know that government always has the capacity for abuse.

Big Brother, as government assumes that people are not really people. To Big Brother, people don't have the same rights as those in government watching everyone else. To Big Brother, power requires no justification. The war on terrorism is war for the sake of war, a war for the sake of control over everyone else.

But again, we find that our public stand on terrorism is a matter of public policy and those with the most influence on public policy have the most money. And those with the most money are private interests. Why would extraordinarily wealthy people need so much security from everyone else? Why would they need the government to do it for them when they could buy all the security they desire as billionaires? If wealthy billionaires were truly benefiting the public good, would they need all that protection?

Big Brother as someone we might know

To me, Big Brother comes in the image of an abusive older sibling, intent on controlling younger siblings. He does this not always on his own, he uses his influence on his parents to heap scorn and abuse on his younger siblings. When I think of Big Brother, that's what I think of. "Do what I say or I'm telling Daddy."

Big Brother might also be a bully, extracting rents from his siblings and other kids at school, in exchange for "safety". Big Brother says that it would be a shame for you to lose all your shiny, pretty things, but if you give him some money, well, you have nothing to worry about. Big Brother says to tell him what you're up to so that he can "protect you". But behind that need for control, Big Brother buries his own fear of losing control.

If "Big Brother" is a metaphor for abuse of government power, who teaches abuse? Parents and caregivers. To put it very simply, if you want a government that respects human rights, you must raise children that respect human rights. To raise children who respect human rights, you must raise children with respect for the rights of children.

Power always requires justification

Kids have rights. Kids are human beings, regardless of how "willful" you believe them to be. Spanking is not showing respect for human rights. Hitting is not showing respect for human rights. Enforcing silence upon kids when they disagree with you is not respecting human rights (thinking 1st Amendment here).

Punishment will yield two results: obedience and/or rebellion. If you have an expectation for how children behave, you must teach them the skills required to meet that expectation. You'll get a lot farther teaching those skills than meting out punishment.

While it is appropriate to restrain kids in times or places of danger, like crossing the street, we must always be mindful that kids have rights, too. Even if they have not come of age, they still have some rights. A right to life. A right to a safe environment, a clean place to sleep, clean clothes, adequate food and water. A right to medical care when needed.

We make these things as rights else we're raising barbarians. We have the concept of human rights because we know that people in power can be arbitrary in how they exercise that power. Power always requires justification for control, regardless of the form of government people choose for themselves. But if kids are raised by people who never justify their exercise and/or abuse of power, kids will learn to abuse power when they do eventually find their own power. And they always find that power.

It doesn't really matter which form of government you choose, if people are not raised to respect human rights, and the rights of children, then it is difficult, if not impossible for people to retain their freedom. Even in a democracy, if people are raised to believe that power requires no justification, then the majority will enforce tyranny over the minority. Even in an anarchy, if people are not raised to respect human rights, then they will form mobs to exert control over others, and those others, having been raised without respect for their rights, will accept that control.

If we truly want peace on earth, that peace starts in the home, with the parents, respecting their kids. It is up to the adults raising kids now to make that change so that the children they are charged with caring for, will see that somebody respects their rights, too. The adults must model peace by being peaceful. They must model respect for human rights by respecting human rights. There is no better way that I can think of to extend the life of the human race.