COMMENTARY

You have got to see this to believe it!  

Right out of Orwell's 1984 'they' (the powers that be) are advertising special custom made see through ruck-sacks, made of clear plastic, for the purpose of assuring any curious bugger that you aren't carrying anything that might 'go off'.

Not exactly convenient for those who might occasionally want to conceal the odd 'jazz mag' or any other embarrassing item, but then again, these are - quote 'Freedom Bags' aren't they, so there is no need to worry about the loss of privacy I guess.

Let's look at this in perspective, it's not that these bags are being forced upon us to use.  My main argument here is that such a notion of surrendering such a fundamental freedom as privacy (and concealment of private property) in exchange for 'security' and also making others feel 'safer', is not something that should be encouraged, let alone sold as something which gives the consumer 'Freedom'.

In George Orwell's classic book 1984 - later made into a movie with John Hurt and Richard Burton - we saw a world which phony news casts were made, non-existent wars were waged for the purpose of keeping an environment of turmoil and constant terror threats were carried out by the 'establishment', again for the sake of keeping the slaves in a constant state of fear, which would lead them into submission.

In order to sell harsh measures to the public, key words were attached to the more fundamentally  un-desirable organisations and products which were put out by the 'Big Brother' government.  Orwell called this technique 'Double-Speak'.  For example, the ministry of propaganda and lies was called 'The Ministry of Truth'.  The best alcoholic drink available - which was just glorified puddle water - was labeled 'Victory Gin'.  The department that dealt with torture and murder of dissidents was called the 'Ministry of Love'...  you get the general idea.

And what do we have in the 'real world', so far away from Orwell's vision?  An act passed (sneakily through the back door) in late 2001 which eroded the civil liberties of the American people suitably named the 'Patriot Act'.  (I guess you aren't a patriot of you are against it!).  They have another one which forces children to psychological testing and dictates whether or not they are 'fit' for society... and this bugger was labeled the 'New Freedom Initiative'.  The list goes on.

In keeping with this tradition, we now have these ruck-sacks being thrown in our faces by the BBC without any kind of criticism of the obvious down-sides - at least not as far as I have seen - called 'Freedom Bags'.

So what is free about exposing the private contents of ones bag to the police state not to mention any potential thief (like there's none of them on the London Underground)?.  No need to answer that!

I've said enough, just see for yourself, here is the article...

MAIN ARTICLE

Clear bags 'to ease Tube fears'

ORIGINAL LINK:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4172376.stm

It plans to donate any profits made to the London Bombings Relief Fund.

Bob Fitzjohn, director of the Assist Safety Project, said the company wants to give the public back the confidence needed to travel on the London Underground again.

"If we all carry a bag that poses no threat whilst travelling on public transport, visiting a football or rugby match or just in a department store, we are giving the message that we are prepared to let others know that we're not a threat," he said.

"Sometimes the perception of danger can be more frightening than the danger itself."