‘Join or Die’ and ‘Surveilled’ Reflection

Arapahoe Libraries has hosted two more Documentary and Dialogue events since our last reflection; ‘Join or Die,’ a film about how social groups and clubs could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis, and ‘Surveilled,’ a film about the ethical dilemmas that both governments and citizens must navigate in the brave new world of cyberespionage. While these documentaries explored vastly different subjects, their conclusions posed similar questions – can we look away from our screens and connect within our communities for the sake of our civic health? 

This is a cultural feat that seems impossible for most. I thought for a while that increased knowledge of danger would inspire us all to unplug, but the knowledge has seemed to become background noise, aiding in the impossibility. There is an old nihilistic saying that goes “I know what I am doing; I am nonetheless doing it.”  

A piece of feedback we received about ‘Surveilled’ was that it was outdated. This was a recent film, from 2024, but technology moves more quickly than documentaries and books can track, which means it can be difficult to meaningfully absorb what is happening before it has already progressed. Surveillance has gone from breaking news to a landslide.  

I assume the makers of the film must have known that the technology would advance far beyond what they captured, nonetheless they made it. I think we also knew when scheduling that technology would be even further advanced, nonetheless we scheduled it.  

I know that spending more time on my phone than within community only aids in the landslide coming for our democracy; nonetheless I sometimes do it. I know that putting down my phone for good is impossible; nonetheless I impossibly put down my phone for good each day. I am not a nihilist.  

‘Join or Die’ told the story of Robert Putnam, the researcher behind ‘Bowling Alone’ – how he researched that the times citizens had the most active role in their democratic governments were the times when people were the most active in social groups, clubs, and affinity groups. It showed a by-gone time of the days before technology. He presented his research, but that wasn’t enough to stop the decline in civic participation over the past two decades.  

‘Surveilled’ told the story of Ronan Farrow, the journalist behind Catalonia’s massive successionist protests – how he researched the Israeli spyware company whose technology can access the entire phone, including the microphone and camera and all data, of whoever the customer wants to surveil. It showed a by-gone time of the days before this technology was purchased by the US government. He presented his research, but that wasn’t enough to stop the flood of surveillance technology and the public’s tacit acceptance of it. 

Bitterness grows from doing everything right, yet being unsuccessful. What can we do with this bitterness?  

I am not an optimist either, but I like to find the wins that are hiding inside the losses. We may not be able to go back or stop larger trends altogether, but we can still choose how we respond to them. Each time we choose freedom, integrity, even imperfectly, even late, we remind ourselves that we can do something that feels impossible; that we're not entirely predictable, and we can still choose a different path. Farrow and Putnam both presented their research and findings at a time that was arguably “too late” to effect change, but their imperfect timing and incomplete conclusions are nonetheless relevant and revealing. Nowhere was this more clear than in the discussion following our screening of these documentaries! Incomplete as the conclusions and calls to actions may be, our community was engaged and eager to discuss and participate.  

Surveillance outsources integrity, redefining faith from faith in the self and in one another, to faith in power, faith that we don’t need to understand or keep up with what that power is doing, faith that these new technologies will cure all human hardship -- that hard work once tackled by difficult community conversations as demonstrated in ‘Join or Die.’ But integrity means doing the impossible because you must. 'Surveilled' asked if we are ready to look away from our screens. ‘Join or Die’ asked if when we do so, can we trust one another? Can we witness one another without surveillance?