Imagine a future world more draconian in its surveillance techniques than George Orwell ever envisioned; a civilization where every moment of your life is recorded, not only by omnipresent cameras, but where your movements are mapped, monitored and measured through high-tech chips implanted in your body. Can you ever imagine AGREEING to allow this level of Massively Invasive Surveillance into your life, your community, your country?
I would have answered "Hell no!" at one point in my existence, until I asked myself a curious question during the writing of my new speculative fiction novel series, "The ELOREAVEN Saga." The question I asked was: "Under what circumstances would I WILLINGLY AGREE to such an intrusive invasion of my privacy?"
Now, before I answer this question, you should know that when I first read Orwell's "1984" as a young man, it scared the royal you-know-what out of me. At that time, I was a staunch Libertarian who preferred to live his life one notch shy of total anarchy. I still am. However, as a direct consequence of asking the inconvenient question postured above, I discovered a unique set of circumstances where I would hang up my principles. Yes, under one scenario, I would smile graciously at the cameras following my every move. Likewise, I would unceremoniously drop my trousers and be cheerfully chipped, with nary a squawk of disagreement.
From thus springs two additional questions: "Have I lost my flipping mind?" Perhaps this: "Did I stumble upon the world's future?"
To sort out this conundrum, let's take the idea of Massively Invasive Surveillance and marry it to Anarchy. These two mutually exclusive concepts seem rather unlikely bedfellows, but a quote from my novel suggests another possibility:
"Unlike classical anarchy, often falsely cast as unruly mobs running wild in the streets, (mob rule by democracy wasn't much better), MISAnarchy was a concept that took anarchy by the hand, twisted it into a pretzel, then married it to George Orwell, allowing both to live together in perfect harmony. This radical idea needed an advanced technological society to function, and Eloreaven proved ripe for the picking."
MISAnarchy is a system of governance in my novel that, if you knew all the details, you might embrace too, no matter how much you dislike the implications of massive surveillance in a society. If not, you might decide that question #2 fits me perfectly, and that I have lost my flipping mind. Yet, what if the future lies beyond door #3? Could it be that I, like George Orwell, parted the veil and glimpsed not dozens, but a thousand years into the future?
I am so tempted to describe my vision in detail in this article, but to do so would be a spoiler for those who haven't yet read "ELOREAVEN - Dodging Bullets (The ELOREAVEN Saga, Book 1)."
To summarize, let me ask one more question: Would I submit to Massively Invasive Surveillance in America in 2011? "Hell no!" I would never trust our present system of government with such power. However, I would willingly submit to a system of MISAnarchy, in the Kingdom of Eloreaven.
You can too, safely from the convenience of your own e-book reader or computer, without dropping your pants to submit your backside to a plethora of electronic bugs, or the omnipresent stare of a billion cameras following your every move. Through the power and enjoyment of speculative fiction, you can bring MISAnarchy to life, and explore like me, thoughts too disturbing to contemplate otherwise.
On the fun side of the dial, I highly recommend the humorous, laugh out loud poem "My Kingdom Eloreaven" which was penned by my late father, Frank M. Bristol. This poem, and the philosophy behind it, was the inspiration for my series, "The ELOREAVEN Saga." Read and enjoy!
Author Resource:
Richard Bristol is the author of the Speculative Fiction novel, ELOREAVEN - Dodging Bullets. Further information about his current and future novels can be found at: Richard Bristol - Speculative Fiction Author and My Kingdom Eloreaven - Fun, Laugh Out Loud, Poem
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