Once upon a lockdown, before the Covid vax, some of us sensed a direr threat than a virus in the air, spreading online and via signage: emergent authoritarianism. And the trend – relentless propaganda, suppression of dissent, excessive police presence at peaceful protests – has intensified. When the jab got rolled out, some conspiracists predicted humanity would be culled, not Covid – the reverse of what the average person believed. But, given the jab’s abject failure either way, it follows that what was achieved – record profits for Pharma – was the real goal. And this cynical mass manipulation is typical. Signs lurk at every turn, proliferating like long Covid symptoms.

Now, checking email takes longer: Outlook offers multiple options. I type my password like before. But then I’m asked ‘Stay signed in?’ And let Microsoft track me even more? For access to my other accounts, I’m asked to verify my email. Oh, wait – the small font reveals that using my password is still an option. But Big Tech is closing off the exits.

Ditto, public health. Dear S____, begins the form letter from my local hospital…

Yours sincerely, it ends. Yawn! A scan of my hips + one wrist would be used to push drugs, so I’d baulk and cop dread warnings. Sure, ‘Our records indicate’ hardly sounds dictatorial. Yet I’m told to see my GP and that my scan will be bulk-billed, as if it’s assumed I’ll obey instructions like a hypnotic subject who takes infantilising management of her body for granted. Aren’t hospitals sufficiently stretched attending to folk who ask for help? What if I want to be self-responsible?

Good luck with that, because life is increasingly monitored. Take Coles and Woolies (one more reason not to shop there if most other offline options hadn’t been undercut by their duopoly). Recently, when my AI-powered self-serve checkout summoned a staff member to assist me, I discovered that the ‘Fresh Food People’ video customers from above. Those complex ranks of CCTV cameras must’ve cost a bomb: no wonder Fresh Food prices have jumped.

Like Adam and Eve with their fig leaves, we can’t escape God’s gaze. Deceptive good shepherd Big Tech wards off hackers, the better to keep us captive. Big Pharma is the hand in the diagnostic glove of Big Med. Big Food jacks up prices and cracks down on theft to maximise profits while customers max out their credit. That’s just big business as usual. Except that lately it’s small business too.

Once a year, the smoke detectors where I live get tested: a guy sprays fake smoke to set off the alarms, mutes them, files a report, end of story. But fire safety certifiers are getting more aggressive. Within 24 hours of our last inspection, we were informed that we have to get our detectors connected – to ensure they wake all sleeping residents if a fire breaks out. Our flats (five in all) are so small that one alarm alone would deafen anyone at home and not comatose. But ten alarms shrilling in sync if one of us burns dinner means more money for the company. We’re not yet obliged by law to take this advice, but our strata compliance team hassled us. We had to refuse at least twice.

Safety is a handy excuse. Fifteen years ago I bought a water purifier, and each spring a technician replaces the filter. He used to test water quality too, in case the membrane was spent. Mine lasted for ages, but then the technology changed. Now, membranes expire sooner. Or so the company says. Now, technicians are trained to replace them every two years without testing water first, so most of these big polypropylene cylinders end up in landfill early. Still, better safe than sorry, and the newer model saves water. But when a phone rep called last month to book my service, she said the housing was due for replacement too. I declined. They need replacing every five years, she insisted. Not mine. I said I’d let the technician check, but she had the last word via email:

Where does such a small company (its sole technician must drive several hundred ks a day to provide urban, suburban and regional service) get off calling customer service reps ‘Officers’? The genuinely friendly technician confirmed that the housing was fine. But his expertise means squat to a company bent on profit.

Seriously, though, just how important is it? Water is no doubt getting more toxic. And why not get our alarms connected before it gets even more expensive? Sooner or later councils will change regulations. And hey, the Internet of Things is getting denser by the day and, barring a big enough solar storm, hyperconnection is here to stay.

Yet passively yielding our freedoms, big or small, to a state fast losing substance beyond the front it affords vast corporations makes us complicit in the ultimate virtual oppression of all. And by the time we clock the cons of a cashless society, compulsory human microchips or uploading our minds, we’ll be doomed. When the stakes are low it’s tempting to just go with the flow, but how will we resist more powerful pressures in future if we don’t practise pushing back now?

In a system that force-feeds its dependents, where does consumerism end? Each year in suburban Sydney at the height of spring, a growing cohort mark Halloween, ancient Celtic harvest festival, by decking their homes and gardens with plastic skeletons, spiders, pumpkins etc. And this trashy efflorescence keeps creeping further afield, differing from Christmas (though they seem destined to merge) only in specifics. Capitalism has so successfully infested the minds of both children and adults (another distinction fast collapsing) that ever more folk feel driven to give ever more time, space and money (if not art or craft) to tacky displays they seem loath to put away. What’s going on? Are they doing what makes them happy – or just reflexively serving capitalism?

Because capitalism can’t afford our happiness. Then we couldn’t be controlled by manufactured fears and desires. Yet nor can it let us get so unhappy that we stop earning, yearning and buying. Ergo, endless events in the cultural calendar help strike a balance. In between Australia Day, Mardi Gras, Easter, Melbourne Cup, Christmas, NYE + all those I’ve missed, is a nonstop round of dates to observe, hence merch to be purchased. While we wonder why time seems to pass ever faster. Well, hey, the internet never sleeps. Yet my partner and I never see digital tech in our dreams. So we googled it – turns out it’s a thing – and AI Overkill Overview, authoritarian weapon with libertarian pretensions, cut in: ‘Dreams are typically devoid of modern technology because the brain struggles to simulate the structured, complex functions of devices like smartphones and computers…’ How’s that for a mindfuck: it’s the brain that’s inept at simulation?