George and the CCTV Dragon

George Orwell was one of the great Englishman of the 20th Century. An enigma in many ways. An Eton scholar who became a colonial police officer, who fought with communists in Spain, who saw the tyranny of totalitarianism and fundamentalism in whatever form, who became an informant for the British establishment. I do not think he was a writer of genius but he wrote about great and important principles that he lived out himself. He viewed life from the eyes of the oppressed and disenfranchised but he saw through those who exploited them for their own ends with the message of liberty, equality and friendship.

I have taken this picture from an interesting and amusing blog site that can found here about CCTV in London.

From my understanding of George Orwell, unlike what the picture suggests, I think he would probably approve of CCTV in London. It is a very British thing, ironically ineffectual in an almost Monty Pythonest sort of way, but benignly comforting to all but the most paranoid. It is not who is watching you, it is why they are watching over you that counts. It may only have a marginal effect on volume crime but it one of the best weapons against serious crime and terrorism. The Hamas murder in Dubai is a good example.

So George Orwell was an enigma, perhaps CCTV is too..............