The Panopticon- Everyone Was Watching
The Panopticon does not rely on any one structure like the circular prison design and can actually be achieved in a myriad of ways.
Both videos mention closed circuit recordings that create a mental state of surveillance. There are many other examples.
Many people who grew up in small towns report that when they would mess up as a kid, the news of their transgression often reached their parents before they did. Neighborhood watch signs suggest that the residents have trained themselves into an alertness to notice any behavior out of the norm.
Undercover officers are used to gather evidence on a variety of criminal activities, and the history of this usage compels participants in these activities to assume they’re being watched, or at least know that they CAN be watched.
In boarding schools, certain students will be elevated into tattling roles. These students get special privileges, and their eyes are always in the group. Similarly the nazis in WWII elevated prisoners into the role of Kapo.
Human beings are very creative about how they create a surveillance state.
All of the cousins were tattletales. This includes me.
When they would report wrongdoing (usually to their own mom) they would inevitably be told not to tattle, but the other kid would still get in trouble, so it was pretty effective. Every once in a while, they would punish the tattler for tattling, just to keep us from getting out of hand. They always seemed really proud of themselves whenever they thought to through that in.
For most of my childhood, there were many eyes watching for any signs of misbehavior. Any wrongdoing would not only be punished, but the narrative and the punishment would be passed along.
If Grandma found you in error, not only would she punish you, but she would pass along the story and then the other adults would be given opportunity to punish if they chose as well.
We all knew that if we got in trouble at school we could expect swats from Mom, AND Grandma, AND Grandpa when we got home.
As I got older, every single transgression became part of your permanent file. Of course it wasn’t a paper file tucked away in a cabinet somewhere. It was a narrative that was performed on repeat, and could be invoked again any time you screwed up anew.
It was suffocating and inescapable. My anxiety from this built and built and built, until it broke. Eventually, it became obvious that I would be perceived and treated as a dumbass for the rest of my life. There was no amount of competence, or effort, or righteousness that could change it.
Ugh.

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