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Contributor
John
Campbell
John
Campbell (R-Irvine) is an Assemblyman representing the 70th
District
in Orange County. Mr. Campbell is the Vice-Chairman of the Assembly
Budget Committee. He is the only CPA in the California State
legislature
and recently received a national award as Freshman Republican
Legislator of the Year. He represents the cities of Newport
Beach,
Laguna Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Aliso Viejo, Laguna
Woods and Lake Forest. He can be reached through his Assembly
website
and through the website
for his California Senate campaign. [go to Campbell index]
 Uncharted
Desert Islands
The government is in our lives..
[John Campbell] 9/20/04
While
flipping around the TV channels this past week,
I noticed several advertisements for a new TV
series about to premier called "Lost." The premise
is apparently based on a plane crash on some "desert island" and
then what the survivors do while "lost" there. It sounds
a little like a latter day Gilligan's Island, although I believe
it is a drama and not a comedy. You may remember that the "castaways" were
stuck on Gilligan's Island which was described as "an uncharted
desert isle." They became marooned there during a "3
hour cruise" from Honolulu.
It was difficult
enough to imagine an "uncharted desert
isle" in the 1960s that was within an hour's slow boat ride
from Honolulu. But it is particularly difficult to imagine a
jetliner being "lost" just about anywhere on earth
in the 21st century of satellite navigation and GPS and satellite
telephones and the like.
You may be wondering if I have now morphed this weekly report
on government policy and politics into a TV review column. No.
But I was intrigued that some producers and a network would invest
in what is a seemingly outdated premise.
It got me
thinking about the era in which we live where it is difficult
to be "lost" in
one's own home not to mention on a remote desert isle. Increasingly,
technology allows the
government or others to see where we are, what we are doing,
what we are saying and who we are saying it to. Furthermore,
new laws and regulations give the government ever increasing
control over what we do in our homes, in or on our bodies, and
in our private lives. More and more I see proposals to regulate
what we eat, where we smoke, how we play, how we invest, what
we have in our homes and what we carry in our cars. And technology
can give the government ever more ability to enforce these regulations.
Now none of this is black and white of course. The reality of
terrorism means that we may have to relinquish some modicum of
freedom in the name of security. But the pendulum of balance
here is starting to tip too far to invade our privacy, and often
in areas where security is not at issue.
Why is this
series "Lost" out there? I expect it is
because of the romance of the now nonexistent "uncharted
desert isle." Maybe many of us have a longing to be, or
have a part of us be, somewhere where the prying eyes and electrons
of others cannot reach. Even if it were possible, that's somewhat
extreme. But we can try in the future to adopt more policies
which give us more areas of refuge in privacy. I will continue
the fight to do so. It is not unreasonable to expect that we
should have the freedom to get "lost," even if it is
just in our own home. CRO
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