Weimar Makes People Wish For a Hitler

A new survey by the Cato Institute included a question about the government installing surveillance cameras in citizens’ homes. The results are unsurprising, and match what many of us have been saying for a long time. Safety and security are at the top of most normal peoples’ hierarchy of needs. When they feel unsafe, they’re more willing to embrace totalitarianism.

The survey was about various American demographic groups’ support for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but included other questions. One of those questions was “Would you favor or oppose the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity?”

75% of respondents opposed, and 14% were in favor. It’s concerning that even 14% would support such a Draconian idea, however, the statistic gets even worse when you look at the more detailed breakdown.

First off, there’s a whole 10% who neither favor or oppose, and 6% only “somewhat oppose” (so would be indifferent to such a law being passed). 29% of respondents aged 18-29 are in favor. Respondents aged 30-44 are 20% in favor. By race, Asian: 9% in favor. White: 11%. Latino: 25%. Black: 33%. Socio-economically, people with a high school education or less had a somewhat higher rate of support at 18%.

Incidentally, only about 13% of women are in favor of the surveillance, in comparison to 15% of men.

With this data, I think we can somewhat reasonably conclude the socio-economic background of an American is the second largest factor in determining his receptiveness to government surveillance. People in impoverished urban areas tend to favor security, as do immigrants who came here from failed states in Latin America. And that’s how we get this apparent (but not really) contradiction of liberal protesters like Black Lives Matter demanding that black communities get less policing, while people from that same community support the police putting cameras in everybody’s homes.

But the biggest factor is age. If the trends in this survey continued, we can take a pretty good guess that Americans younger than 18 support government surveillance in private homes at an even higher rate, possibly more than 50%, a majority.

I’ve written about this several times before, like with the Jordan Neely subway incident, grocery stores being forced to lock up even low-cost items, and the rampant bullying of vulnerable people in general. (see the stories linked below). When the average person is afraid to go outside out of fear of being randomly mugged or killed, niceties like freedom of speech and privacy all go out the window.

What generally happens next in this story is a well-spoken guy with a mustache promises to make everything better. His methods are a little extreme, but by that point society has gone so far down the toilet no one cares. Whether or not they want to admit it, many people are actually relieved when this new government hauls away the dangerous mentally ill people like Jordan Neely and puts them in camps wellness centers. Naturally, after this new leader cleans up the streets and puts the economy back in order, he’s very popular with the people and they’re inclined to listen to his other, more radical ideas. Like perhaps, a war mobilization.

Ian Kummer

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