"Big Brother" stands for an idea rather than an actual person, the idea is that the government is always watching you.
In a sense yes I do believe that "Big Brother" is taking place in our society. It exists in the fact that we don't have as much freedom to do what we want anymore. People used to govern their own lives and nowadays everything we do is controlled by someone or something. In a capitalist society, mostly every action has a monetary value behind it in my opinion, therefore the people that control the money, control the people. The government controls the money, therefore they control the people. There is something that I just learned in Social Foundations that can be applied to this situation. In school districts they are constantly watching the productivity of the school by administering standardized tests. Teachers are constantly being observed to make sure they are doing things the way that other people want them to do based on standards set up by the government. Also the idea that "Big Brother is in our society, is that there are cameras everywhere nowadays, everywhere you go. The government looks at your grades to determine what money they will give you to pay for schooling, they watch your productivity. The government I believe can even monitor your phone calls.
I really don't think however we have lost our right to privacy nor do I think that we have lost our privacy in our current society. Yes I do believe that privacy still exists when you are in your house behind closed doors, I don't believe that the government is watching us in our homes like in the novel they do.
No I am not willing to give my basic freedoms to feel safe, I would rather live in a unsafe, crazy world than in what in my opinion is a "cult." That is what it reminded me of, a cult, because they didn't have any basic rights. They had to be told what to do constantly, you could not even go against the party or you would be put to death. What happened to your entitled to your opinions?
I was thinking of a cult the entire time too! Well a mix between that an a hilter-esk germany. Fundamentally, i think the ideas of the party in 1984 and Nazism are the same, although Hitler was a bit more extreme with people who didn't fit the mold, he had them executed. The governing body in 1984 simply considered them not part of society, the proles i believe they were called. But in both thought crime led inexplicably to death. I agree though, freedom is such an important thing to us, maybe because that is the history we grew up with. Perhaps, if our history were different, such as the children of the novel's, other things..such as denouncing our parents would be of more importance? It seems that history is something we all find, or are told to find pride in..so much that it dictates how we live our lives..
ReplyDeleteI like how Callie mentioned Hitler. I briefly thought about him while reading this novel. I think its because of the whole killing because you don't agree with us sorta thing. I agree how we don't really have much freedom because we're always being watched. At least that's my opinion. Like you said who ever controls the money controls the people. Since the government controls the money. . .and the people love money. . . they can easily control the people just by that.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our society is largely run through monetary values. A lot of people’s actions are rooted financially. Also, the government, and more so corporations control money in this country. However, I think we are the main supports to this system and could just as easily let it crumble if we had the intention and will to do so. I don’t think we’ll ever have the intention.
ReplyDeleteWe do have the right to voice our opinions in this society. However, are we given the means to do so? It is nice that the government gives us the chance to say what we want, but what is the likelihood that anybody will actually hear it? There are, in fact, many ways to voice one’s opinion but they aren’t always so easy for every citizen (possibly without the resources to contact other people or to use tools in order to convey their message.) This is a product of a capitalist (monetary) society in which there must be a lower class.
I agree with you that I would rather live in a place where there are no rules and it's like crazytown, than live in a society like in the novel. It would freak me out if there were cameras watching my every move in my very own house! That is going way too far..
ReplyDeleteI definitely also pictured Hitler while reading this novel. Although I do completely agree that in some cases the government does go too far when in comes to setting standards and observing our actions, I also feel like it is necessary. I think that structure is very important in a society. I'm really glad you brought up the school system and how it works with constantly making sure that things are being done a certain way. I agree with the points being made about teachers being observed and crutiqued to go with the standards set up, but I also think it's necessary.
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