When Would You Stand Up? (Part II)

Stage 3: Transparency

            The next stage of the takeover seems like the most important, innovative, and exciting thing to ever happen in the world of politics. Suddenly, political leaders from every democracy the world over are “going transparent.” This means that they wear a camera around their neck that sees and hears everything they do.

This technology is most widely proliferated among politicians, but some “normal” people are going transparent as well, including Mae. This transparency makes her an instant worldwide sensation. She always has millions of followers watching every minute aspect of her life. She becomes not only becomes a world famous role model, but also becomes the eyes and ears of the world within the company. Whenever they release a new product or hear a new pitch, Mae is there, and her watchers instantly give feedback.

Although most people probably wouldn’t want to go transparent, it’s hard to see the drawbacks of this technology for those people who don’t want to participate. Why would it be bad for politicians to have their lives on display? What politician would dream of doing any sort of shady dealing or go against the publics interest if they knew they were being watched? As Mae notes, being transparent helped her become her best self. She knew she was being watched and was an important role model, so she played the part well, and felt like a better person because of it.

This technology, while it may seem to have the most positive effects, also has some monumental drawbacks. Although politicians are supposed to work for the people, by publicizing their every move they are constantly at the mercy of their constituency. Our country was created as a republic, not as a democracy for a very specific reason. Humans are hot headed and often are not prepared to make an informed decision. We should be able to trust our elected officials to do what is right without having to look over their shoulders all the time.

            This technology is also dangerous among normal individuals. Any individual who is transparent is constantly forced to think about any insignificant acts in their lives. They lose their individuality because they don’t want to do anything out of the ordinary. Transparent people become little more than robots, designed to please their watchers.

            So would you stop it? Would you push for politicians to go back to their private dealings? Would you protest as people around you became transparent? The scary thing is, I don’t know if I would. Although I wouldn’t want to be transparent, I don’t think I would mind if other people did. I wouldn’t see all the drawbacks, I would only see the positives, and that is where the issue lies.

Stage 4: Full Participation

            Finally, at the end of the book Mae “completes The Circle” with a revolutionary idea. To get political participation up, let people vote through their circle accounts. And to make sure everyone has a voice, just force everyone to get a circle account. Although a bit unorthodox, the government contracts work out to private companies all the time, so how is this any different?

            Since everyone is the country will have a circle account, everyone can be a part of every decision. Politicians will instantly know how the public feels about an issue, and eliminate the need for lobbyists or polls. It could even eliminate congress, as every person can vote using the new “Demoxie” (democracy with your voice and your moxie) technology to respond to every issue.

            Suddenly, mob rule is a reality. The whims of millions of undereducated people with volatile emotions take over the country. The idea of full participation and voting, which the government so desired, suddenly makes the government itself obsolete. And, of course, The Circle controls the whole operation.

            This is probably the point where people would step up and say it has gone too far, the circle must be stopped. But by the time the public gets to that point its already a law, and dissidents will be fined or imprisoned, or worse.

Conclusion:

            The scariest part is, no matter how clear the flaws in The Circles system of sharing and transparency are to an outside observer, the system appears perfect to most participants till it’s much too late.

            So where would you step up and try to stop it? When would a large enough group to make a difference step up and try to stop it? When you think about the changes that were made, the drawbacks to each of them, and how you would react, it’s easy to see how such a system could form without any real opposition. Perhaps Eggers’ analysis of our culture and how we react to loss of freedoms isn’t as inaccurate as we would like to think…