Science fiction authors often attempt to predict the form of future technologies and then spin a social effect from it. For example, half a century of rocket and nuclear technology has led to all kinds of "propulsion" systems, based on nuclear energy. Few, if any, have been based on distrubuted energy beaming infrastructures, of the form I've written about on my website. Similarly, I doubt that George Orwell could anticipate the form of Big Brother, and whether or not it would be good or bad. He can only base it on existing totalitarian governments. But Big Brother might not be dependent on the form of political system. And whether it is bad or good might not be dependent on ideology, but on function. And as we know today, technology is highly limited by its function, hence the need to divide labor into very simple steps. For example it is impossible still to make a robot take over all human functions, only a few, and it won't look human either.

I read two different news articles recently. One was in a newspaper, it stated that Bombardier was laying off 400 more workers. The other was on the internet, it stated that Bombardier posted a loss in the last quarter. The latter made no mention of layoffs. This is the thought police in the present state, distibuting information based on assumptions about who is reading which media, and what their social status or profession is. This is capitalism. This is business. This is marketing.

What I'm talking about is crime. I haven't suggested that unusual ideas be made crimes, only actions that are meant to harm people physically or psychologically:

If some crazy person is on a bus, yelling at a total stranger about his religious ideas, has a crime taken place? Maybe his voice is just louder, eh? Or maybe it is harassment? Perhaps just a difference in personalities? What if someone decides to stare at someone else, of scowl at someone else during a bus ride, or at work? What if they do it every day for months? Has a crime been committed? Maybe the victim is just a wuss or a wimp?

What if a group of people decide to harass a victim on a daily basis. Each day, they take turns doing something to him/her. Each time the harassment takes a different form, but is designed to be hurtful, perhaps name-calling, or whatever. None of the purpetrators is guilty of an offense, because they only did it once. But from the perspective of the victim, he/she has been victimized by a group every day for weeks. Has a crime taken place? Maybe the victim just thinks it is a conspiracy? Either way, it is the word of one person against many others! Could you get a conviction? What if the crime was more serious, but of the same form?

What if a group of people decide that only their best buddies should get promoted at a company, so they don't advertise the job when it becomes available, they only mention it to the guy they want to get it. There are at least half a dozen other people that might be qualified. Has a crime been committed? What if someone hires a private detective to follow someone around, to determine where they live, shop, what route they take to work and back. What if they use that information to get the advantage on certain occasions, for instance if it is important that the victim arrive at his destination in a timely manner? Has a crime been committed?

It's his word against theirs.