So, you thought you had it all. You had life right where you wanted it. You had the latest computer, the best bandwidth, the technical skill to surf with reckless abandon. Your screen name was famous, and your buddy list had over 200 names on it. All this, and still you felt empty. How could this be?

You had all the things the pundits of prediction advised would be the technology to bring you freedom and happiness. You had all the interaction you could possibly want, and hell, lots of people said that online relationships were just as good as real ones. You just broke up with your current e-girlfriend, but you weren't sweating it, because you knew you could find another just as easily. But even when you were with her, there was still some part of you that felt lost and alone. You remembered sunshine, even though you hadn't seen it in over a year. You remembered hanging out in a bar, full of harmful carcinogens expelled by those awful smokers. You remembered the feel of your ex-wife underneath you, her breath on your cheek, her voice in your ear, husky and deep with desire.

But, all that was behind you. You were a pioneer in a golden age, an online king. You had it all by the standards of the burgeoning E-World. You were in control of your destiny, a master of communication, a purveyor of information ... and still you felt alone.

Does this sound attractive to you? Does this sound like the Utopian dream? Some of you will answer yes, but I think the majority still say no. Yet, this is the future that so many corporations would sell you. Powered by market studies and scientific research, these techno-fascists would have you believe they have provided everything for you so well online that you may never need to log out. They provide scientific documentation "proving" real life interaction with other humans can be safely replaced with online dating and cybersex. They believe the warm embrace of a loved one can be replaced by a big hug. They would sell you the dream of a life plugged in, where you control the whole universe. Now, is that the reality of the situation?

But, you're asking yourself, what motivation could they possibly have to try to get me to replace real life with Web life? The answer is simple. Their motivation is the same as every other dictator and totalitarian controller in history; money and power.

If you spend all of your time on the Web, which is increasingly becoming a giant E-fomercial, it stands to reason you will be more likely to shop online. The more time you spend there, the more likely you'll run across the link that will take you to the site wherein your every heart's desire is contained. They go by the theory that if 13 minutes of commercials in an hour of TV is effective in increasing sales by four percent, then non-stop commercials via your browser for eight hours would increase sales 400 percent.

Secondly, if you are logged in to the Internet via a major service provider, you are trackable. It is a great expense to track someone's motions and motives through the real world. On the Web, however, it's as simple as sending a bot to monitor your IP. If they know where you are (at home in front of your PC), what you're doing (monitoring your AOL stock while shopping Amazon), and all of your dirty secrets (that cookie from MyBigStud.com is still on your hard drive), you are that much easier to control and manipulate. With the onset of the gigachip and major advances in "smart house" technology it won't be long before you'll have no reason to get up from your PC at all. They will advance the technology enough to get those mundane household chores out of the way, freeing up hours to devote to mental copulation. All the while we free ourselves from the bonds of the physical to embrace the virtual, singing the praises of these technological geniuses who have brought us binary heaven.

As our bodies atrophy and age, and our sense of humanity fades away with the absence of human touch, we'll find ourselves looking at our screens dumbfounded one day, wondering how in the hell Big Brother took over when we were all looking out for it.

This doesn't have to be the future. But if we are to keep Orwell's nightmares from becoming our wakeful torment, we must be wary. Big Brother is not a TV on the wall. It is a server in a room you'll never see. It is packaged with all the glitz and glamour to disguise its true nature. It comes wearing vestments of freedom and convenience. It promises it will make us the masters of our domain.

It just doesn't mention that our new domains will be six feet by four feet by four feet.

Copyright © 2000 Chris Jenkins All Rights Reserved

Chris Jenkins is a Florida writer and Frame Relay Tech who happens to moonlight as the Moderator of the Media section of the *spark-online discussion board. Check out more of his insouciance there.

comment? discuss this article on our discussion board