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@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@ --- -title: The Stasi and the nature of surveillance +title: The Stasi and the implications of surveillance author: Mohit Agarwal date: July 2021 bibliography: ["reference.bib"] -biblio-style: "harvard" link-citations: true +nocite: '@*' --- -here is some text [@stasiland] and some more and more +<!-- *y --> # Surveillance in powerful systems @@ -36,6 +36,43 @@ citizens. Perhaps the most interesting +# Surveillance and control + +The tools of surveillance served the state, and in return the state +served the Stasi. Just as to us, surveillance agencies and government +may appear separate, in East Germany they were demonstrably not. There +is arguably a great deal more power and flexibility was afforded to +the rulers of the state by the actions of the Stasi. The authoritarian +stance of the ruling party existed not only in high level politics, +but in the daily lives of the individual. In this way, survaillance is +much like propaganda. Surveillance, often in a way that people may not +at first initially recognise, is able to have a widespread impact on +individuals according to the wishes of those in power. + +In the GDR, those in power wanted to actively control the lives of +their citizens, and ensure behaviour according to the rules of the +state. Surveillance might serve those who want control particularly +effectively. The Stasi was able to influence people through their +surveillance and their spread to all assets of society. The Stasi was +able to make its way into the groups it considered 'enemies', such as +the Church. Many members of the church were Stasi members or +informants, and by this method of infiltration, surveillance can +empower those who wish to control their populations to find and +silence dissenters. This has the ability to create an atmosphere of +fear, where one is unaware of who may be an informant and is aware of +what not to say to others. A consideration of who 'worked for' the +Stasi is important. The number of Stasi informants were much larger +than full-time Stasi officers [@popular-involvement]. This is the tool +of controlling surveillance: seeping into the small parts of our +societies; in schools, factories, churches, and families the Stasi had +far greater power and knowledge than it would on a higher level. + +This consideration has major implications with the development of +technology following the end of the Stasi's operations, given the +prevalence of sophisticated devices with microphones and cameras, +which the Stasi went to great lengths to plant in private places, but +that we carry around with us as granted. + # Conclusions In a sense the reality of the Stasi and the ways in which it impacted @@ -62,6 +99,4 @@ of survaillance. <-- horrible ending -\nocite{*} - # References and bibliography |