In ‘Desert Solitaire’ by Edward Abbey, he states that one importance of having the wilderness is to evade political oppression. He lays down his list of ways in which a totalitarian government can emerge in America. I think that as much as the tyrannical ideas listed down by Abbey are terrifying and dreadful, they should act as a serious eye-opener for citizens because each of the listed ideas can easily be achieved if well planned, organized and executed. The listed ideas can gradually lead to absolute deprivation of the freedom and individuality of American citizens. This essay focuses on the first topic on Abbey’s list of concentrating the population into megalopolitan masses to ensure there is close surveillance on citizens (Abbey, 131).
A densely populated area makes open or secret surveillance on people quite easy especially nowadays with the vast growth rate of technology. Technology is used everywhere and especially in an urbanized vicinity where citizens are defined primarily by their technological equipment. Depending on the size and type of resources owned by the regime, they are capable of creating or acquiring machinery hacking equipment which they can clandestinely use on the citizens to watch their everyday moves. This technique benefits the government in that they are capable of tracing every conversation, time and location of any event about to take place and in turn, can authoritatively control any situation or problem that arises through their own effective channels. Furthermore, a dense concentration of the population makes it even easier for the regime to take full control of the American people since most of the communications and activities take place in a technologically federal-controlled accessible area; whether it is in an apartment, warehouse, private establishment or even highways. The government is moreover privileged in the matter since such surveillance is not listed as illegal probably because the majority of the citizens are not aware it is happening.
Conclusively, this close surveillance on the population completely strips citizens of their freedom and independence. It limits their activities as they can never be sure if and when they are being monitored and instills fear in them of carrying out any action that may be deemed politically inappropriate or unlawful.
Work Cited
Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire. McGraw-Hill Education, 1968.
