If I were the antichrist, I wouldn’t waste time trying to force people to accept the mark of the beast, that’s silly and unecessary. I’d just start selling biometric readers as “security” devices to everyone. I’d work toward putting all security devices on a global network, and I’d have project Echelon monitoring all the data that goes through it in order to track people. I’d make a deal with Acxiom, Google, and other data mining companies to track the movement of people based on spending habits. I’d know who rented/bought which car, and I’d use On Star and other GPS ‘features’ to track people everywhere they go. I’d use the spy satellites to pinpoint people I wanted to keep tabs on, and I’d make sure that we started to implement automated road systems like they have in I Robot and Minority Report so that traffic moves more quickly and efficiently, so I could know where every car is at any given time.
But that’s just me, I don’t see any point in wasting so much effort trying to force people into the mark of the beast. Hell, if the National ID cards have RFID tech, it’ll be that much easier. Add to that triangulated cell phone PDA information, and you know where almost anyone is at any given time.
You’ve got the job. To be accurate, you; were you THE antichrist, would not have to force anyone to take the mark. They will take it willingly. Except for those fundie christians, whom you can then dispense of easily.
If I was the anti-Christ, I wouldn’t worry so much about fulfilling God’s plan of ending the world, instead I would use my powers to score with hot models/actresses/etc. Rivers of blood? That is soooo 78 C.E.
The thing about all this big brother monitoring of everyone’s spending habits library cards and phone conversations and locations…what exactly is the AntiChrist gonna DO with this information? How many people can you monitor individually? How many people will be required to monitor the monitors, and who will monitor them?
So the AntiChrist knows that I bought apples and diapers and macaroni and cheese yesterday? And that helps him dominate the world…how?
And all this surveillance is only a threat to freedom if the surveillance is one way–the powerful watch the powerless. Except surveillance technology works both ways, ubiquitous cell phones and cameras and computers and sensors enable us to watch them right back. The cops have cameras watching us? We have cameras watching the cops. Big business aggregates data about consumers? We aggregate data about corporations. The government spies on untrustworthy citizens? We use networks to publicize government actions.
See David Brin’s “The Transparent Society” for a book length treatment of this idea. All I can say is, I’m not afraid of databases or cameras or sensors or communication, just as long as everyone gets to use it.
Hah! Like that will happen. Even if it did all it would take is a few people who know how to obscure their faces or block/disable the RFID signals at key times to make the symetrical effect Brin’s books relies on fall apart. You got nothing on me when I know how to avoid the cameras and tracking tech and you don’t.
