In the past week various news sources have been reporting on the fact that certain employers have taken to asking potential hires for passwords to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once again as a society we move closer to the elimination of the individual and their respective rights to an amalgamation of persons dedicated to the sovereignty of any given corporation. The Founding Fathers would be disgusted as to this profane abuse of power. It quite literally flies in the face of the great thinkers who fought for freedom from King George and the tyranny of the monarchy. Consider the words of George Mason in the Virginia Declaration of Rights:

“That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

In other words dear corporations. Do not tread on me! How dare any financial or corporate institution impinge on our right to privacy and liberty as expressed in the Bill of Rights. It seems that tragically our democracy is in the process of devolving into an institution that bows to some sort of lobbied beltway oligarchy. The rights of the individual to think freely are being called into question if they want to work for certain companies. What would it be like if we could see the hidden workings of the purported rulers of this new Metropolis? Would their Facebook and Twitter accounts help us decide if they were fit to have any say at all in our lives?

This Friday will see the release of the movie Hunger Games. It is a story set in a post apocalyptic world were teenagers representing certain districts fight to the death to the amusement of the despotic rulers and the masses. The winner of this barbaric contest wins food and prestige for their respective district. It makes one wonder if we are creating some bizarre self fulfilling prophecy. Is it the fate of humanity to one day live these mephistophelean nightmares?

“The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity – much less dissent.” — Gore Vidal

Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween