The Lack Of Privacy in 1984 and Today

In 1984, one of the most prominent issues that surrounds society is the lack of privacy that is citizens have. They are constantly being watched, listened in on, and tracked. There is no privacy for any of the citizens. They are not even safe from their own thoughts because the government has convinced them that they have thought police that watch what they think. They have taught the kids to turn in their own parents for saying something. Their society has gotten to the point where people are too paranoid to even think for themselves.

In today’s society, the government may not be able to track our thoughts, but they already read our emails, texts and listen in on our phone calls. Whether is the NSA, CIA, FBI, KGB, or MI5, people all over the world are being watched constantly. The NSA alone collects data and information not just in the United States, but around the entire world. According to an article by the American Al Jazeera, just this week alone, information was revealed that Americans and British spies hacked into one of the world’s largest sim card producers and took the keys that encrypted the data. What this allows the government to do is to store all kinds of information people send out, and if they need to, just decrypt the data that the need at the time. This can lead to data being pulled for a person, back from when they weren't even a problem. This is similar to 1984 because Winston gets in trouble with the thought police, and they use everything that he has done in the past to arrest him on charges formed by and present information.

Link to Article - http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/20/NSA-SIM-card.html

The uses of Propaganda

Propaganda has been used around the world in many different forms for a while now. Whether it is to help a party rise to power, or bring the war effort in a different view for soldiers, it can be a very powerful thing when used right. Propaganda can provide many good benefits to whatever is being shown.

One of the biggest uses of propaganda is for a war effort. America especially uses it to drive patriotism around the country. It helps to promote good feelings for the war with another country and drives the number of soldiers enlisting in the army. It starts a mass production of goods around the country, which opens more jobs and boosts the economy. It can also be to depict the kind of enemy they are fighting against and boost the hatred for the country even more.

Another major use of propaganda is for political parties. If you are trying to get elected or take power, what better way to get people to side with then your face and party slogan plastered all over the place! A political party uses their own form of propaganda to persuade people to join their cause. It helps the parties cause and what they do, and it helps to inform people of what they stand for or what they are going to try and do to help out the citizens.

My Idea of a Utopia

When people say the word utopia, a perfect and equal society, with not suffering or pain, where the government that takes care of its people in the best way possible, is the first thing that comes to mind. For me however, a utopia is a bit different. In a perfect world, pain would still exist, there would still be a class system, some people would be unhappy, but everything would still be perfect. People would be free to do as they please, feel as they please, and act as they please. They would not be forced into a certain job, or made to be with a certain person, but they would all have equal options when it comes to choosing. No world can be perfect, and that is just something that everyone will have to deal with in my society, but if I could put in things to make those lives of people who are suffering better, then the world slowly starts to become perfect. Instead of trying to force people to show no emotions at all, I would give everyone a way to deal with their thoughts and feelings.

    The government would still care for its people, providing what ever the people need, whether it would food, shelter, clothes, education or something else, it would give it to them. People would have their lives taken care of by the government. There would be no poor, no homeless or needy. If you have a problem, simply ask the government for help. There is no need for one person to suffer if they cannot support for themselves.

Marriage and child rearing would be done differently. Every person can marry whomever they choose. There would be no forced marriages and people could marry between classes. Every family could have a two children as a means of population control. If a family wishes to have more than one child, they would have to sign a document of some sort saying that they can in fact support the child, because any child after the second one will not be supported by the government until they are 18. This seems fair to me because it puts parents into a position if they are truly ready to have another child and forces them to think about everything before they go ahead and start having more children. Any child had outside of the two without a proper document being signed first, the child will be taken and given to another family who may not be able to have a child to being with.

As far as the government goes, it would still be a democracy, with an election every 5 years. The current ruling person cannot run for a second term and the person up for the running must be under 30 years old. This is to ensure that the ideas of the people constantly reflect that of the changing times. The government would not be corrupt as it now. There will be constant checks to other positions to ensure that nobody is gaining votes or their position through bribes.