Spying on Democracy by Heidi Boghosian

Author:Heidi Boghosian
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: City Lights Publishers
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Computers Can’t Commit Crimes

It sounds like scene direction for a film: “Maria wakes up, grabs the remote control, and tunes in to an alternative-rock radio station. She gets up, goes to the kitchen, grabs a bottle of water, and goes to the third bedroom, which doubles as the workout room. She runs on the treadmill for thirty minutes.”1 Maria’s morning is actually part of a short narrative that some corporations use to help develop consumer marketing strategies. At a glance, retailers view information about prospective patrons categorized according to stages in their lives, such as getting married, having a child, or preparing for retirement.2 Descriptive summaries include such specifics as the amount of time people spend online shopping for flat-screen televisions to the kind of beer they drink.

Maria is in the group of financially comfortable young adults who spend money on items for themselves, their children, or their friends’ children. They grew up in the wake of 9/11, after the debut of the television show American Idol. They go to bed around 11:30 p.m. after a half hour of Pilates and watching Scrubs reruns on television.

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