BubbaNub : Foucault

As I read Foucault I can't help but utter the age old question of what came first, the chicken or the egg. In this case, however, our chicken is the Repressive State Apparatus and our egg is the Ideological State Apparatus that Althusser spoke of. Foucault raises this question by showing us a progression from the end of the seventeenth century and the methods used to contain the plague to the Panopticon tower of a modern prison. His analysis is not one of mere buildings and customs, but extends to civilization and freedoms of privacy in the world. But just what makes the community listen? Is it a fear of death that unites and drives the community to leave their hands in an omnipresent power to rule in their "best interests" or is it the physical Repressive State Apparatus that tells them to hide themselves away for fear of punishment?
Foucault points out that similar to the leper community, these observed "plagues" showed considerable political promise in obtaining a more extensive permeating rule with stricter divisions. Does this opportune ideology reinforce the already present repressive state apparatus, or was it formed subconsciously around the ideological constructs to begin with? This circular question is never quite answered by Foucault, instead he chooses to reflect on its evolution and the direction in which such apparatuses are headed. As he discusses the Panopticon he describes a concept that is not as foreign as George Orwells 1984 used to be. With networks and organizations such as CCTV our society, not just our jails or community buildings, is being watched everyday. It is the ideology of this fear of our every move being watched that becomes the driving principle for the Panopticon's functionality. If we think we are constantly being watched, then they rarely have to watch us....right? That is the idea behind such a structure, one that if we look closely certain exists in America today to make us all domestic and complacent cattle.