 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Criminals were to be incarcerated in his panopticon, which radiated from a centre and had a skilfully devised system of mirrors so that the head gaoler, like a spider in the middle of his web, could view simultaneously all that the criminals were doing. The head gaoler in this system replaced the Eye of God. When criminals did right, they were rewarded; when they did wrong, they were punished. Consequently - so Bentham maintained - they would all do right. Unfortunately, even if he had obtained all the support for his panopticon that in his most optimistic moments he hoped for, there would still have been people not in prison, and for them other arrangements would have been necessary.
Source： Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 13: Ethical Sanctions, n.4
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-1304.htm
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Countries imitate ‘good’ systems in other countries and introduce them in their own countries. Spider-web prisons (panopticons) seem to be one such example, and have been introduced in Japan at Abashiri Prison.
Russell teases, ‘Unfortunately, even if he had obtained all the support for his panopticon that in his most optimistic moments he hoped for, there would still have been people not in prison...’. Is this irrelevant to us, the general public?
Is it an exaggeration to say that the My Number system can ‘also’ be used as a tool to monitor all citizens? I am not talking about the My Number Card system, which not all citizens have, but about the My Number system, which is waved to all citizens. If various systems are linked to the My Number system, it can be used to centrally manage everything from birth to death records. Of course, each ministry can only see through the system the matters relevant to their own ministry, but not the parts linked to other systems. However, if only the Prime Minister could (if not actually do it) see all the systems that use my number...!
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