Fundamentals.

As David Brin said in his characteristically prescient late-90s work "The Transparent Society," our world is not facing the choice of "all-invasive surveillance" or "a return to privacy." It is facing the choice of "all-invasive surveillance overseen by the state" or "all-invasive surveillance overseen by the people." This challenge is evident in many places; from the rapid growth of Interstate travel surveillance disguised as payment convenience, to the U.S. Government's new program to expedite airport waits for people willing to submit to greater privacy invasions, to the very tracking cookies and other electronic means of observation that help people and businesses alike with their interests.

What does all this mean for America? What does this mean for the rest of the world? Increasingly, what does this mean for the entirety of humanity, as the continual and often unchecked growth of multinational corporations, combined with their increasing intertwining with governments, steers us ever closer to the idea of a truly global society?

To this end, a discussion of all facets of this enormous problem seems appropriate. What better medium than the online journal, the same format used by 14-year-old girls to talk about shopping, and by 60-year-old men to pretend to be 14-year-old girls!