Column“Privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be,”

 — Edward Snowden during his Christmas message on British television

Even if you didn’t pay much attention to the news last year, you probably realize that much of what you say and do is tracked. From your location via GPS, to your email correspondence, to your phone calls, purchases, Google searches and even what you might be drawn to when you walk into a store; it’s all on file. The surveillance state is always lurking in the shadows, even in your seemingly private moments. Whether it’s the government or the corporation, the very meaning of the word “privacy” is being eroded as our rights are stripped away.

So what does Edward Snowden, of the recent NSA revelations, have to do with your life between the sheets? Sorry, this article is not going to be about getting someone to “blow your whistle.” I want to explore whether it’s possible to have real intimacy in a world without privacy. How can we be ourselves with our lovers when we know that private eyes are watching us 24/7?

As we willingly offer ourselves up to the ego-orgy of Selfie culture, choose Facebook and Facetime over what we used to call face time, and generally succumb to the distractions of the digital age, we’re forgetting how to relate in the here and now. We’re missing cross-cultural social cues, ones that have been with us throughout human history. We are growing uncomfortable with looking into people’s eyes – cashiers and wait staff and others that we’re forced to interact with. And for those of us that live with someone, we’re often so caught up in digital distraction that we cuddle up with our iPad instead of our partner. Porn appears to be hurting our sex lives — men increasingly can’t get turned on by their real-life lovers, because they are becoming desensitized by the sometimes outrageous acts witnessed on their laptops.

We may be better at connecting with the crowd, organizing movements and reaching the masses, but we’re getting worse at the most basic one-to-one relating. Like Jonathan Franzen once said in a New York Times op-ed, we’re so concerned with being “liked”, we’re forgetting how to love. Love, sex and intimacy; the cornerstones that define us as human beings — may be headed for an epic fail. When you’re naked in bed with your lover, when you’re supposed to be at your most vulnerable so you can experience maximum pleasure, are you really alone? If most of your hours outside of bed are in the public domain, it’s nearly impossible to be intimate — because being intimate with someone requires knowing yourself. When the panopticon of Big Brother hovers on the sidelines in your daily life, how can you find time to process what that means?

Our private lives are intruded upon more and more everyday; we’re becoming inured to the idea that there is no such thing as privacy. Why fight the trend? Why take the risk? Why bother dealing with living, breathing humans when you can get a digital ego stroke while sitting in your desk chair? Why even look up at the cutie sitting at the next table in the café when Snapchat is at your fingertips? Real human relationships are messy – they can be a drag. We’re getting closer to the time when robots will be stand-ins for lovers – really. “Her”, Spike Jonze eerie take on a man’s infatuation with a computer program, is currently in theaters. That sci-fi reality is almost here, and when it goes viral, many of us will be so accustomed to stroking our iPhones as stand-ins for flesh that we won’t flinch.

So we must ask ourselves (before it’s too late): is this a reality we want to embrace? And furthermore, what can we do about it? So many of us are unconscious and asleep; we’d rather have the convenience then the complication. Our culture’s seamless meshing with social networks is great for Twitter’s IPO and the cultivation of celebrity status, but what does it really do for you? Unplug from your gadgets and focus, just for a moment, on the invasion of your privacy, both as a citizen and a consumer. Is that the world you want to live in?

Got a question for Stefanie? Email stefanie at ecosalon dot com and she’ll answer it in the next Sexual Healing column.

Keep in touch with Stefanie on Twitter: @ecosexuality

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Image: Joshuahoffmanphoto

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A question comes to mind in the wake of the NSA’s PRISM leak courtesy of whistle-blower Edward Snowden, and the flurry of ag-gag bills appearing around the country: If the government can spy on all of us, why would “ag-gag” bills consider undercover video footage obtained inside factory farms, illegal?

And, actually, here’s another question that comes to mind: If we can allow this type of force-feeding to human prisoners in Guantanamo Bay as “standard practice,” why the need to cover up and hide what happens to the food we eat?

One of the most vital tools for eliminating animal cruelty is being threatened by what’s known as “ag-gag” laws, intended to stop whistle-blowing and the collection of undercover footage, by criminalizing the activity. Nevermind our First Amendment rights, apparently. Oh yeah, taking undercover video footage is also considered an act of terrorism…which could technically put you in Guantanamo and subject to illegal abuse and force-feeding. Go figure.

It’s the stuff none of us ever want to look at: the inside of a factory farm where cruelty and abuse are standard practices. The only other place they’re employed in the U.S. (without accountability) may just be Guantanamo. And as Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) illustrated in this unbearable video, conditions often escalate to law-breaking behaviors. In the case of the food we eat, animal rights activists are there to capture it whenever they can with hidden cameras. That’s more than can be said for the prisoners.

Organizations including PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society of the U.S. have helped secure felony convictions for abuses, and instigated massive food recalls as a result of undercover footage obtained inside factory farms. The method has also led countless individuals to stop eating meat, eggs and dairy products from these facilities, which may be the main reason the industry is so hell bent on criminalizing the activity. Paul McCartney once said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would go vegetarian. I’ll add to that they might also get outraged. Rise up. Give the food industry and our government, an ultimatum: Things have to change. Or else.

Instead, we focus on the activity of whistle-blowers like Snowden, who the government calls a criminal. Whether or not the NSA is reading my emails is less of a concern to me than the decision to hunt down Snowden for alerting me to the fact. What’s wrong with transparency in government? Is it not “of the people, by the people, for the people” that Lincoln said was paramount to our new birth of freedom?

States including Tennessee, Utah and Iowa now have ag-gag laws on the books and other states are working diligently to push them through. According to Mother Jones, the bills are receiving heavy pushes from ag industry lobbyists and supporters: “Wilton Simpson, an egg farmer now running for the Florida Senate, pushed the legislation in the Sunshine State. In Iowa—where egg mogul Jack DeCoster was under a federal investigation that eventually found that filthy conditions at his facilities had led to a salmonella outbreak and nationwide egg recall—the Iowa Poultry Association freely admits the role it played in shaping the bill.” In response to PETA’s investigation of a hog farm called MowMar, Mother Jones also reports that a spokesperson for the company called PETA’s video “the 9/11 event of animal care in our industry.”

As health risks escalate from factory farming conditions, so too does the industry’s need to shield itself. When animals are found in conditions where cruelty is rampant, they’re often at risk of spreading diseases. Mistreated animals are routinely crowded into filthy and unsanitary situations where bacteria and diseases can quickly spread. Holding factory farms to humane standards also helps mitigate deadly contamination risks. Whistleblowing is intended to protect citizens (and animals). It’s a tool vital to democracy, to our freedom, to our health.

Despite the rise of consumers educating themselves on the risks associated with the industrial food complex and big-ag’s  corporate agendas, the industries continue to find ways to influence consumers. I recently wrote about a report outlining numerous organizations that are little more than front groups for giant food corporations. Much in the same way the ag-gag bills are attempting to suppress what goes on behind the shit and blood-filled doors of factory farms, the brands selling this “food” want you to believe it’s healthy and good for the planet, too. Of course, if that doesn’t work, they can always resort to force-feeding.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: bpblogspot

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