Panopticism
...th” (242). The police become not only a disciplinary force but have merely observational intentions of the smallest facts and actions. This ever gazing supervision that is necessary to maintain order in a democracy is the same type of supervision required to maintain order in a panoptic prison. The same face less gaze is what will be on individuals’ minds in both situations. Before performing any action, both will reflect on the results of the action being witnessed by a higher power. This unseen yet very present power has the ability to maintain order by supplying a fear of perhaps being seen by an individual that remains hidden. This paranoia is only accelerating with the advancements in technology recently gained. The general opinion of today’s culture is that technology can be used to wholly solve the problems in society. Therefore, video surveillance has become a thing of regularity in even the most private of places. A camera in a public area while perhaps discouraging crime from that very area is doing nothing more than displacing the crime. But that illusion of safety allows people to rationalize being watched in nearly every place they go. By allowing people nearly unconditional freedom, society inevitably trusts each individual with the task of deciding which actions are acceptable and which are not. Those decisions are also aided by the presence of an authority that people fear. The presence of surveillance has an effect on the citizens. The purpose of all the cameras is to force the society to generate its own sense of self-control. By regulating themselves the people make the cameras less and less necessary. Like a panopticon the actions of the masses in a democracy are primarily fueled by a fear of punishment. A democracy does not squelch the individuality of a person, it does not repress them. A democracy has the ability to intertwine the individual in with the society. Therefore allowing the individuals to become closer to the whole, to the higher authority, and making their actions much easily observable. The more easily observable the actions of the masses become, the more easily manipulated they are. The people in the society of surveillance are almost entirely unaware of the power that those cameras have over their every day actions. While the people understand they are there, truly understanding the psychological effect of being watched has on them goes almost completely without reflection. Foucault understands that power is truly internal. The threat of punishment works because “it arrests or regulates movement, it clears up confusion” (246). Society interested ...