Camera obscura

There was a time when the public trusted any plausible narrative given by the state. People went to war based on radio broadcast descriptions of events happening in nations they knew nothing about. I think it is safe to say we are now in a different place.

Ever since the police beating of Rodney King, image evidence from private individuals has been used to challenge official explanations. Conversely, the lack of CCTV evidence damned the police investigation into the July 7th attacks. The death of Ian Tomlinson updates the same pattern.

This is a strange inversion of the "surveillance society", whereby everyone watches everyone and no-one trusts anything unless it is on camera. But holding authority to account simply by trying to catch them in the act of cheating simply gives power to those who cheat well. And it ironically punishes the usually honest who naively trip up.

Reconstructing events by using any number of restricted viewpoints is no replacement for vital missing facts. If I present you with a black box that contains a photo I made of a scene, I'll happily let you make as many pin holes as you like - you will still struggle to make out whats going on. Especially if I choose the image.

Professional journalists pieced together Watergate, but it would be hard to build up a case by relying on passing tourists getting incriminating evidence on their Nokias. Its more likely than an infinite number of monkeys coming up with the works of Shakespeare, but the focused plans of a well resourced state will only fuck up a small number of times.

No amount of individual observations can replace trust. Even government officials who lie occasionally are a better bet than hoping to trip up the seriously devious. Unfortunately lost trust doesn't really return.

Somehow the current low trust institutions need to be rebuilt. The solution will probably involve systems that break the ties of loyalty to careerist superiors. But this problem won't be faced unless we stop using institutions we no longer trust, and stop making one nation under CCTV.