Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The hidden history of big brother in America : how the death of privacy and the rise of surveillance threaten us and our democracy / Thom Hartmann.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Oakland : Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., [2022]Edition: First editionDescription: ix, 169 pages ; 18 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781523001026
  • 152300102X
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction : The Big Picture of Social Control vs. Democracy -- Big Brother & Social Control -- Big Brother and the Emergence of Surveillance Capitalism -- Big Brother and the Real Global Info Wars -- Putting the Reins on Surveillance Capitalism.
Summary: "This book deals with two very large and often amorphous concepts: privacy and surveillance in the context of both government and the marketplace. Both concepts have undergone changes over the millennia of recorded human history, and those changes have dramatically sped up and expanded over the past few centuries, starting with the widespread use of the printing press in the mid- to late-15th century when books and newspapers began to proliferate across Europe and the rest of the "civilized" world by the end of the 17th century. The development of radio, television and the internet in the 20th century heightened the need to define more clearly what both concepts meant and how they applied both to governments (the "public sector") and individual and corporate players (the "private sector"). The Thought Police and Big Brother are terms introduced into the popular lexicon by George Orwell in his novel 1984; Big Brother was the overweening all-powerful government of Orwell's novel, and the Thought Police were those who managed to burrow so deeply into every citizen's behavior, speech and even thoughts that they could control or punish behavior based on the slightest deviations from orthodoxy. Orwell was only slightly off the mark. Big Brother types of government, and Thought Police types of social control, are now widespread in the world and incompatible with democracy, as I'll show in more detail later in the book. Most concerning for Americans and citizens of other "democratic" nations, the mentality of both have heavily infiltrated both American government and corporate sectors, reaching so deeply into the day-to-day details of our lives that the techniques and technologies they use can - and do -not only control, but predict our behavior"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 342.7308 H333 Available 33111010844534
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

America's most popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann reveals how the government and corporate America misuse our personal data and shows how we can reclaim our privacy.

Most Americans are worried about how companies like Facebook invade their privacy and harvest their data, but many people don't fully understand the details of how their information is being adapted and misused. In this thought-provoking and accessible book, Thom Hartmann reveals exactly how the government and corporations are tracking our every online move and using our data to buy elections, employ social control, and monetize our lives.

Hartmann uses extensive, vivid examples to highlight the consequences of Big Data on all aspects of our lives. He traces the history of surveillance and social control, looking back to how Big Brother invented whiteness to keep order and how surveillance began to be employed as a way to modify behavior. As he states, "The goal of those who violate privacy and use surveillance is almost always social control and behavior modification."

Along with covering the history, Hartmann shows how we got to where we are today, how China-with its new Social Credit System-serves as a warning, and how we can and must avoid a similarly dystopian future. By delving into the Constitutional right to privacy, Hartmann reminds us of our civil right and shows how we can restore it.

"This book deals with two very large and often amorphous concepts: privacy and surveillance in the context of both government and the marketplace. Both concepts have undergone changes over the millennia of recorded human history, and those changes have dramatically sped up and expanded over the past few centuries, starting with the widespread use of the printing press in the mid- to late-15th century when books and newspapers began to proliferate across Europe and the rest of the "civilized" world by the end of the 17th century. The development of radio, television and the internet in the 20th century heightened the need to define more clearly what both concepts meant and how they applied both to governments (the "public sector") and individual and corporate players (the "private sector"). The Thought Police and Big Brother are terms introduced into the popular lexicon by George Orwell in his novel 1984; Big Brother was the overweening all-powerful government of Orwell's novel, and the Thought Police were those who managed to burrow so deeply into every citizen's behavior, speech and even thoughts that they could control or punish behavior based on the slightest deviations from orthodoxy. Orwell was only slightly off the mark. Big Brother types of government, and Thought Police types of social control, are now widespread in the world and incompatible with democracy, as I'll show in more detail later in the book. Most concerning for Americans and citizens of other "democratic" nations, the mentality of both have heavily infiltrated both American government and corporate sectors, reaching so deeply into the day-to-day details of our lives that the techniques and technologies they use can - and do -not only control, but predict our behavior"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : The Big Picture of Social Control vs. Democracy -- Big Brother & Social Control -- Big Brother and the Emergence of Surveillance Capitalism -- Big Brother and the Real Global Info Wars -- Putting the Reins on Surveillance Capitalism.

Powered by Koha