The American Surveillance State - A Government Camera in Every Home

The Cato Institute recently released the results of its 2023 Central Bank Digital Currency National Survey.  While the CBDC part of the study is interesting and will be the subject of a future posting, what I found interesting was the question in the study that examined Americans views on the surveillance state.  The survey was collected from 2000 respondents between February 27 and March 8, 2023 with the sampling frame based on a "modelled frame" of American adults based on the American Community Survey, voter records, the 2020 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration supplements, the 2020 National Election Pool exit polls and the 2020 Cooperative Election Study surveys.

 

Let's look at the question and responses regarding government surveillance of its citizens:

 

Would you favour or oppose the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity?

 

Responses:

 

Strongly favour - 6% 

 

Somewhat favour 8% 

 

Neutral - 10% 

 

Somewhat oppose - 7% 

 

Strongly oppose - 68%

  

Isn't it interesting to see that a total of 14 percent of Americans favour the installation of government surveillance cameras in every household with an additional 10 percent neither supporting nor opposing the issue, totalling nearly one in every four Americans.

  

Let's break down the demographics of those who favour the installation of government surveillance cameras in every home:

 

1.) Democrat/Lean Democrat - 17 percent with 21 percent of strong Democrats approving

 

2.) Republican/Lean Republican - 11 percent

 

3.) Independent - 14 percent

 

4.) Race - 9 percent White, 33 percent Black, 25 percent Latino, 11 percent Asian

 

5.) Age - 29 percent 18 to 29, 20 percent 30 to 44, 6 percent 45 to 54, 6 percent 55 to 64, 5 percent 65 plus 

 

6.) Education - 18 percent high school or less, 11 percent some college, 10 percent college degree, 16 percent post-graduate degree

 

7.) Household Income -16 percent less than $50,000, 15 percent $50,000 to $100,000, 12 percent $100,000 plus

 

Let's break down the demographics of those who oppose the installation of government surveillance cameras in every home:

  

1.) Democrat/Lean Democrat - 72 percent with 85 percent of strong Republicans opposing

 

2.) Republican/Lean Republican - 83 percent

 

3.) Independent - 67 percent

 

4.) Race - 84 percent White, 51 percent Black, 58 percent Latino, 66 percent Asian

 

5.) Age - 53 percent 18 to 29, 68 percent 30 to 44, 84 percent 45 to 54, 88 percent 55 to 64, 89 percent 65 plus

 

6.) Education - 68 percent high school or less, 80 percent some college, 81 percent college degree, 78 percent post-graduate degree

 

7.) Household Income -70 percent less than $50,000, 79 percent $50,000 to $100,000, 82 percent $100,000 plus

 

To summarize, younger, non-white, strongly leaning Democratic Americans with either high school or less or post-graduate degrees and incomes under $100,000 per year tend to support government in-home surveillance.

 

The additional link between those who approve and those who oppose in-home government surveillance is the link between those who support and those who oppose a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency:

 

1.) Favour installation of government surveillance cameras in every home:

 

Strongly support CBDC - 56 percent

 

Somewhat support CBDC - 51 percent

 

Neutral - 11 percent

 

Somewhat oppose CBDC - 3 percent

 

Strongly oppose CBDC - 2 percent

 

2.) Oppose installation of government surveillance cameras in every home:

 

Strongly support CBDC - 35 percent

 

Somewhat support CBDC - 371 percent

 

Neutral - 73 percent

 

Somewhat oppose CBDC - 93 percent

 

Strongly oppose CBDC - 95 percent

 

Those who support government installation of surveillance cameras in every home tend to be those who strongly support the issuance of CBDCs and vice versa.

 

While only one in seven Americans support in-home government camera surveillance, I am still shocked that anyone would trust the American government with all aspects of their most private lives but I suspect that some people take that attitude that "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you have no reason to be concerned about government intrusion".  While it is not terribly surprising that younger Americans have little issue with protecting their personal privacy given that they live significant portions of their lives in the online world where there is no privacy, what is of concern is that within the next decade, many of these younger Americans will be in positions of power where they will have the ability to implement a total surveillance state.