Surveillance

Surveillance is an interesting phenomenon because the whole premise of it is that at any given time someone could do something worth recording. There's no guarantee that any of it will actually be meaningful or important at all. To surveil seems to be an expensive and effortful activity that is more often than not pointless.

Yet on the other hand, I understand the "better safe than sorry" mentality of those who surveil. While gathering information on a person doesn't necessarily prevent anything bad from happening, there is the chance that it could, and, if anything, the perpetrator of the incident would be known about and therefore easier to catch.

The problem is that surveillance isn't always all that effective, especially in everyday life. Cameras get put up in stores, but customers still shoplift. Security checks bags at theme parks, but anyone can sneak anything in in their pockets. Sure, it can be argued that security and surveillance "discourage" this type of behavior, but the answer to the question of whether or not that is enough can still be debated.

Personally, I don't care either way. If I'm being watched, great, I don't do anything suspicious anyway. If I'm being ignored, great, I'm not all that exciting. People who are determined are going to do what they want regardless of whether or not someone is watching them. Until surveillance becomes 100% preventative, something that I cannot imagine will ever happen, it remains little more than an abstract threat to the average individual.