BROKEN WINDOWS

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

There are a few options regarding the punishment of traitors. David Stewart, an earl in 14th century Scotland, was taken to the public square and branded "King of Traitors" with a red-hot iron crown. A couple of days later he was tortured to death. In the film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), the community deals with the murderous members of the tribe (traitors of sorts) by banishing them, which was close to death sentences in their native Arctic. I suppose the American equivalent of this is prison, a kind of banishment in its own right.

I remember reading Foucault's Discipline and Punish years ago and being struck by his description of the Penopticon, a 19th century prison style that seems to have been the inspiration for our modern-day prisons. In the design, a tower sits in the center of the prison and each cell has windows facing out, bars facing in. The prisoners cannot escape the guard's gaze. They are punished by being watched. The ultimate freedom is taken from them, the freedom to be alone. Perhaps this will be the punishment of the future: web cameras placed throughout the cell (or home in cases of house arrest); the eyes of the nation watch the traitor brush his teeth, wash his face, do his laundry. Every movement scrutinized, every act made important by the gaze of others.

I can't help but think this is how life has become for that outed CIA agent and her associates as they watch their backs for retaliation. Every movement scrutinized, every act made important. I hope there is an investigation, that the leak is traced back to its source, and that the leaker, the _traitor_, is held responsible and punished appropriately.

I hope too that we find a way to elevate ourselves above the dirtiness of these days.

8:38:22 PM |

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