Monday, November 18, 2013
Chapter 1&2 of 1984: Privacy
In the novel 1984, nothing is secret. The main character, Winston Smith, cannot seem to have a private moment. At this point, it is still hard for me to understand what the thought police really do. It seems that they control how people think and that people cant think beyond certain boundaries. For example, Winston knows if he was ever caught writing in a journal he would be killed by the thought police. I think they don't like when people are able to think for themselves. The telescreen even made me feel a little creeped out. The thought of always being watched is very disturbing. Newspeak was also hard to understand, but from my interpretation it is all the propaganda they use. If newspeak is the propaganda then it truly poses the biggest threat on privacy. Through newspeak, big brother is not only invading in people's lives but even their brains. They control everything people think through their "hate" part of the day. However, certain aspects of America today reminded me of 1984. In 1984, the government gains their faith and loyalty from the people through fear. In America, when the Patriot Act was passed, it too was out of fear. The citizens and the government were so terrified of the 9/11 attacks, that the act seemed perfectly justified. The act allows a little too much snooping for most people to be comfortable with today. Also, many people find the TSA to overstep boundaries. I have never felt that my privacy was invaded. Also, I know that if someone I knew was on a plane and something happened to it, they would be the people I would blame. I understand their purpose and appreciate it.
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I find it interesting that you take the stance on the NSA that "the only ones who need be worried are the ones who are bad people". Do you ever worry about the fact that if the government can impede this much on our constitutional rights it opens the never ending door for them to justify the impeding on all our other rights for "national security"? Or do you believe that it is the first responsibility of the government to provide for the protection of the people and worry about rights later? But then, where are we to differentiate ourselves from Communists? I do agree with you confusion about the Though Police, I feel still that they are very ominous. No one knows anyone who is specifically a Thought Police worker, but at the same time they know that they exist, but not particularly what they do other than "vaporize" people, but then again what does that mean?
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