A panopticon was a prison design
created by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in
the late 18th century. The design was circular and allowed for
prisoners to be in view at all times. His design allowed for the
elimination of bars and locks. Bentham saw this form of
imprisonment as mind on mind control. New prisons of today sometimes
use the panopticon design.
There was an outcry about Bentham's
design because the prisoner never had privacy. Today we monitor
prisoners 24/7 using CCTV cameras. Some still argue that watching
people 24 hours a day is not healthy and possibly abuse. Today's
prisons go even farther by placing RFIDs on prisoners so that if one
wanders into an area off limits an alarm will activate.
Today, we are living in a panopticon
world. We have the NSA doing 24/7 surveillance of our communications.
This isn't something new. It has come to light the NSA monitored
notables such as Martin Luther King and Mohamed Ali. They weren't
spied on because it was believed they were potential terrorists –
it was simply because they spoke openly about their political
beliefs.
