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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » Is the idea of the "Smart City" a great one, or an orwellian nightmare?
kjames

Is the idea of the "Smart City" a great one, or an orwellian nightmare?

here are a few links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br5aJa6MkBc

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/shopping-i-can-t-really-remember-what-that-is/

Posted - December 1, 2017
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Responses


  • 1713
    Smart City?
    Is it some kind of creepy utopia where everyone looks the same and lies around doing absolutely nothing while machines do every little thing for them?
      December 1, 2017 7:11 PM MST
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  • 2960
    It is the Millennial paradise.

    The description of the non-city-people seem accurate. What do the city-people do for work? Are the corporations in charge? What a living hell. But life is hell now.
      December 1, 2017 7:18 PM MST
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  • 5835
    Can you say "Out of touch with reality"? When you have a citizen you have a vote. Citizens always vote to control each other. The elected officers desperately want that control. Bear in mind that in this business "control" means like a strangler: he doesn't want your air, he only wants to control your breathing. And that is how every great idea gets turned into an orwellian nightmare.

    What is your overall assessment of life in the USA? Have you noticed that millions of people live in cars, buses, tents, or even park benches so they don't have to be a citizen anywhere? For example, the average house price in California is now a half million dollars. Rents are as high as some people's total income in other states. What do wage earners live in? They live in RVs, cars, and park benches. Near Niland, CA there is a whole city with no houses. In Quartzsite, AZ there is a city of 350,000 people in the winter, but only about 3,000 are permanent residents. The rest live in wheeled vehicles and they go someplace else for the summer. The only service they want from a city is the sewer.
      December 1, 2017 7:29 PM MST
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  • 17613
    It's a Cleveland dream, so what do you think.  
      December 1, 2017 10:25 PM MST
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  • 1305

    To me it's sounds like hell, when you start handing responsibility over to others who control technology, you lose all control due to dependency, and so all rights, and all privacy.  Edward Snowden has already exposed much of it, as has project Vault 7 regarding smart technology it's ability to listen in on your conversations, control you use of electricity, and control your car if that is electric.

    I'm a fan of the country, my privacy, of owning my own property, money as a way of exchange and not contactless payment that keeps track of all your transactions, cheque books, bank books and driving a car that I know how to fix :)

    This post was edited by kjames at December 2, 2017 6:48 PM MST
      December 2, 2017 5:28 PM MST
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