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Germany 2017:
A country on the wrong track?
Seven years is not a long time. It is only 84 months or 2555 days. And yet, seven years are enough to change the world fundamentally and unhinge our society. For the history of humanity is not a one-way street – it is the story of fateful crossroads that again and again make us choose in what direction to continue.
What would happen if one day – without having noticed – we would take a wrong turn? If one day – driven by our (understandable) fear of terrorist attacks – we get hopelessly lost? If we lose sight of freedom and like lemmings continue towards a setting, where every citizen’s freedom is sacrificed on the tempting altar of supposed security?
Alpha 0.7 shows the Federal Republic of Germany in the year 2017. In our scenario, the (almost) same cars drive down the streets as they do today, people are (almost) dressed like we are now. The architecture of buildings and the landscape (almost) haven’t changed. At first glance, everything looks exactly like in 2010. However, upon closer examination, certain elemental changes become apparent: things we haven’t invented but simply developed – based on the hypothesis “once a technology exists, it will be used. And lastingly change the world.“
Hence, it is completely natural for citizens in our fictitious 2017 to be examined with full-body scanners at airports and train stations. The streets, public places, pedestrian precincts and residential areas are also constantly monitored: night-vision CCTV cameras, equipped with facial and behavioral recognition software record every movement. 120 geo stationary NASA and EU satellites continually feed the global wire-tapping system „Echelon“ (est. 2004) with data of our day-to-day phone communication – and they raise red flags whenever certain „listed“ words are used anywhere. Just like the CCTV cameras focus on pedestrians behaving suspiciously in any way.
Any resistance against these observation measures has subsided in 2017 – as often was the case in the world’s history. A silent majority simply acquiesces them, accepts them. They plan nothing evil. They have nothing to hide… besides, these measures are said to be (supposedly) necessary. After all, our world has grown more dangerous – and more precarious. One does wish to be protected from the many invisible terrorists out there, live a quiet and serene life.
And once everybody is used to being transparent, nobody in 2017 minds revealing even more data. To health insurance companies, for instance – or to doctors. In 2017, every receptionist will immediately have our entire medical history available on their computer screen, as soon as we hand them our patient chip card. Our computer work stations are quietly monitored by software running in the background, checking our work days’ efficiency. And thanks to the so-called ELENA-policy (electronic statement of earnings) the Agentur für Arbeit’s (job center) job is now much easier, too. Whether it is housing benefits, unemployment benefits or the last pay: every income and all social benefits an employee or person in search of a job receives is stored and saved to a central database.In 2017, everything is being recorded. Data is being collected everywhere – in the supermarket about our shopping habits, at the banks, in administrative offices and in the so-called social communities online. Everywhere. And it is no secret that “scoring agencies” connect this data and analyze it. For whom? Well, for anybody who, according to current legislation, has the right to know more about us. Insurance companies, for instance, or credit institutions – and, of course, the Federal Criminal Agency as well.
Alpha 0.7 shows a transparent society, where constant fear of new terror attacks has led to personal freedom gradually being sacrificed for homeland security. A world still shaken by the consequences of the terrible terrorist attacks on 9/11 – a world, where the trauma of being vulnerable has led to political decisions restricting our civil rights further and further. Of course, Alpha 0.7 is only a fictitious setting, but its roots extend well into our present: no technological advance was invented or made up, but existing technology „simply“ developed further.
Case in point: Loyalty card providers give us bonus points, health insurance companies reward our transparency with better premium rates and the state promises to protect us from terrible crimes. Not even to mention the many advantages the internet offers: it makes staying in touch with friends, who are far away, or finding a new love easy. We can share our opinions, personal experiences and preferences with the world through blogs and message boards, or exchange pictures. And is it not also a great brownie point that we can easily find our way to any place in the world with the help of GPS?
But this “Brave New World” also has a dark side: what if all that data we share so readily ends up in the wrong hands? What if it is used against us?