Blogging vs. Slogging

Those of you who are regular contributors to this blog have thus far provided plenty of spark for a raging conversation about matters related to the course and ample entryways for the rest of you into the conversation. Yet, in spite of the best efforts of some to awaken others, not all of you are as yet making enough noise in this blog. There are far too many one-sided conversations here. This must end. Check in the with blog whenever you turn on your computer or check your e-mail and speak your mind. Think about Winston and his journal; what if he had the freedom of a blog?

This week, please think about the comment of one of your classmates accusing me of trying to make you all paranoid. My response was that I was doing just the opposite of stirring irrational fear in you but instead to be asking you to think rationally about the claims of others, to be skeptical of others' arguments rather than accepting truth as it is delivered to you (often in a glossy package!).

What do you think, am I trying to make you paranoid?

Media

During the discussion in the computer lab about the "truth" that we obtain from the news reminded me something my Chinese teacher told me once. She said that in China, certain topics are locked when searched on Google. When people search for information regarding the mainland China/Taiwan conflict there is a lot of information that cannot be accessed by the general public. Isn't that scary? It made me wonder if there is a similar filter in the US system that we just don't know about.

As I am reading this book and listening to conversations in class, I am noticing something that I had already noticed in the past but I had not paid attention to it until now. Our lives just like Winston's, it is all a routine: we go to school, go home, do homework, then some of us go to work, and sure there are periods in between where we do something different but for the most part it is a routine. The person that I had told this to in the past was my mom, I told her that all she did was go to work, come home, cook, eat, watch tv, go to sleep, and do the same thing all over again. I question if she was satisfied, not bored with her routine; at the time she did not give me an answer, all she told me was that that is what she had to do. Now I question my self as to whether what I am doing is worth something and now it is because I am doing all of this to graduate get a very highly paid job and enter routinely life that my parents are in. However I hope that I can do more with my life.

Victory Cigarettes?

Isn’t it interesting how every product in 1984 is named “Victory _____”? (Victory Gin, Victory Cigarettes, and Victory Coffee) The word “victory” makes it sound like it is the best product around, but in reality they are made poorly. For example, Victory Cigarettes falls apart whenever Winston attempts to smoke it. I think Orwell is trying to show how consumers are satisfied by the image of the product and because of that disregard the actual quality of it.
At my work there is this drink called “Madagascar Vanilla Freddo”. It’s just an ice blended coffee drink with vanilla syrup, which makes it a very typical drink at Peet’s. By adding “Madagascar” to its name it gives this image as if the drink is superior compared to the rest of the plain named drinks on the menu. The vanilla freddo is not particularly the best drink on our menu and neither are the Victory Cigarettes in 1984. From this I am understanding that consumers constantly needs to be reassured that they are pruhasing he best product on the market and the name of the product helps build the quality of it.

What do you think?

Winston's world and the movie Gattaca

As I was reading 1984, I remembered a very similar setting in a movie I saw, Gattaca. In Gattaca, there was very closed monitoring of the citizens and a clearly defined class hierarchy. If a crime was committed, in Winston's world, the police would eventually find out because of the telescreens and, more importantly, the Thought Police. In Gattaca, the detective work consisted of scanning the crime scene for any traces of your genetic footprint: hair, nails, skin, etc. In 1984, the government controlled its population by means of cultural conditioning that lasted throughout one's life. In Gattaca, the control would not so much be behaviorally-based techniques, but would start much sooner, in the womb. By using very advanced and precise genetic engineering, the parents could choose the perfect child; no diseases, no brain or muscular damage, perfect health, excellent looks, etc. The control lay not in the hands of the government, but at the mercy of the parents. The parents' perception of what a 'good enough' genetic makeup, and therefore qualities of the unborn child, can easily be influenced by the government.

A crazy symphony of language

I keep reading in science magazines, like Discover, how closely linked the physical brain is to our language. If a person has the left hemisphere of his brain damaged, he cannot say certain parts of his language. I show him a cup and ask him for the name and he can't say it. He knows what I'm asking him, and he knows it's a cup, but he just can't say it. So this patient goes through surgery and the doctor wakes him up during the procedure to test if he's fixing the right part; to do so, he delivers light shocks, and these shocks make him babble. What a wonderful puppetry.

Or, if instead of thinking of this as puppetry, how about if you think of it in terms of music. The patient is like a harpsichord, and the doctor plucks certain strings that make him say a word; that is, produce a sound. If he brings in another doctor and some nurses, each armed with the electroshock device, they can maybe make a melody out of the sounds; or in this case, produce whole phrases out of the individual words. Then, Orwell would chime in and say that this individual already has ready-made phrases in his brain that just need a very small push to come out. So a nurse's assistant comes and joins the surgery, delivering electroshocks to the back part of his brain, making the patient spew all kinds of tired phrases and cliches. All medical staff combined, the doctors and nurses in charge of the melody, the main phrase, and the nurse's assistant in charge of the harmony, the cliches, make out of this patient an eloquent person.

Boringness

Some of you are complaining about how dull of a character Winston is. Are you familiar with the phrase the banality of evil? Even the most cruel and darkest society people don't walk around with horns and a pitchfork. The same holds true for the good guys. They don't have halos and they aren't involved in high speed chases on page too. You guys have been spoiled by fiction and TV; most of life is just routine. Winston doesn't have any ace in the hole; he has to go about his daily life so that he won't starve to death even though he knows that the TP will get him. For those of you who are intrested in other stories that have this level of excitment and darkness (aka the events that inspired him to write this story) read darkness at noon (the purges) or one day in the life of... (gulag). If it simply gets gets too boring for you relax, take a deep breath and remember it is a short book.

The two similar societies

In regards to the in class discussion about Bush’s unclear speech, I feel that if an individual really cared about what’s going on around them, he or she should really use their own time to research on the issue and use their own brains to judge the credibility of the issue themselves. In our society, you can’t rely on the media or government officials to give you truth on current events because every new station and government official is biased in some way for whatever reason. For example the Fox New Station is one of the only new station in America that stands on the liberal side of the political spectrum. While, news channels such as ABC, NBC, and CBS tend to be on the conservative side. However, my point is, if an individual really wanted to know the truth what’s happening, he or she should not rely on anything but themselves. Every one of us is born with a brain, so we should use that brain to filter what we see and hear around us and to make educated judgments by ourselves. Nevertheless, the sad truth is, the majority of Americans just don’t seem to care that much and are not willing to put in that extra effort, as a result, the majority of the population is living by false information.

In connection to 1984, I definitely agree that the telescreen from 1984 is very similar to how the US government is currently spying on it’s own citizens under the Patriot Act. Another thing that I noticed was the close similarity between the working class of America and the people of 1984 in terms of their everyday lifestyle. The people of 1984 have very little free time after work, and even if they did, they are so tired from work that the only enjoyment at home that they have is smoke and drink beer. This is very similar to the working class people of America; their work hours so long that when they come home they can only watch TV and sleep. However, more importantly, when people are constantly worked like animals, they don’t have the energy and the time to think and to find ways of elevating their living standards. You find this a common sight in America, people who find a job, usually stay at that same job level all their lives, because they simply don’t have that extra energy and time to educate themselves and climb higher on the social ladder. In the case of 1984, by keeping all their citizens either constantly at work or dead tired by the time they get home that all can could do is to smoke and drink alcohol, it becomes really easy for the government to control them. Because, like the people of America, the people of 1984 don’t have that extra time to think about why their life is so difficult everyday, and if the possibility of a better lifestyle is out there.

Ministry of Truth

"They have a really delicate balance to walk, between keeping us relatively fearful, but not so fearful that we stop what we're doing and really examine how it is that they've been waging" -J. Stewart

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?token=de2_1184562739

1984

I went to Target yesterday and the first thing I noticed was the camera and screen situated right above the entrance. Not only was my entrance monitored, but the cameras throughout the entire store recorded my every move. The employee at the exit door also took my receipt and went through my bag of purchases. Sure, this is all done for the sake of security, but can't I buy what I need without having someone go through my stuff and scrutinize my every move?

Later in the day, I went to see Harry Potter at the theatres. I came a bit early and watched as countless amounts of propaganda were played before the previews. From the Army, to the Marines, to the National Guard...everything was glorified and depicted as heroic, fulfilling, and motivating. In one of the commercials that was played, I remember seeing a child handing over a flower to a compassionate American soldier bearing an enormous gun. Is that really how it's going to be if I decided to join the armed forces?

From shopping to going to the movies...these little things in life can be relatable to 1984. Though everything in 1984 is a bit more extreme (such as the telescreens monitoring every move, hearing every word), it is fair to say that there are some aspects of our lives that aren't entirely devoid of surveillance and scrutiny. Also, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly being exposed propaganda (military) and commercials/ads that seek to make us behave a certain way. For example, when you see an ad that glorifies the armed forces like I did in the theater, doesn't it make you believe that joining the army is going to give you feelings of great satisfaction? It tries to persuade you in a way that makes you fail to recognize the harsher realities of joining the armed forces, such as war, violence, and possibly death. Or what about when you see an ad at 1 AM in the morning about a weight loss pill that claims to be fast, safe, and effective? They entire ad is glorified in a way that you may fail to recognize that weight loss pills are usually ineffective and dangerous substitutions for healthy diet and exercise. My point is, like the society in 1984, we can be just as easily brainwashed to the workings of our government without being aware of it. It seems crazy, but it is possible.

1984...

So over the weekend, I went on a trip to Tahoe with my family and since I knew i wouldn't have much time to read 1984 after getting back from Tahoe, I decided to read the book on the way to Tahoe. I was surprised at how I was so drawn into the book but I just read the book without much thought and I was just being entertained. Once I arrived at Tahoe, I walked through the casino to go to the hotel lobby. Something that immediately caught my attention were the cameras installed all over the ceiling inside the casino. I'm not talking about 10-20 cameras installed throughout the casino, I'm talking about hundreds of cameras. It seemed that the whole ceiling was covered with surveillance cameras and this reminded me of the telescreens in the novel. I felt like every move I was taking was being watched and even though I wasn't doing anything wrong, most of my attention went to wondering if those cameras were looking at me. Now obviously those cameras were probably installed to catch thieves inside of casinos but just the fact that those cameras were there watching everyone's movements was what scared me. It just made me feel restricted for some reason and I didn't feel so comfortable seeing so many cameras planted to the ceiling. For a second, I felt like i was Winston in the novel who just tried to avoid being seen by the telescreen. Just the fact that someone somewhere was watching me felt like I had to watch out for what I was doing and I felt like I could not be myself. If I had not read a part of this novel before entering the casino, I don't think I would have paid attention to the cameras as much.

Driving and the Radio

Today as I was driving to work, I was listening to live 105, not because I like that station, but because my brother took my ipod adapter and I couldn’t listen to my own music. As I turned from Lawrence to Saratoga, they began playing a Likin’ Park song, the one from the end credits of Transformers. I pulled into the lot and had the car off before the song ended and thought nothing of it.

After work, I turned on my car, and once again the same song was playing, almost exactly where it left off five hours prior.

I know this sounds random, but whenever this happens I am always curious. We aren’t quite living in a society as is found in 1984, one where we are always watched, but these events always strike me as odd. It is very much like the “Truman Show”, as if I am being watched by an audience and maybe on today’s show, there was a commercial break while I was at work, and the show continued as I climbed back into my car. I also thought about Newspeak, or the numbing of society they are hoping for in 1984. Everyday it seems the variety found on the radio, and even TV is decreasing. TV shows are very alike and “alternative” rock consists of a handful of bands. Even with all this, I am still hopeful. On occasion a new show, or radical new group arrives on the scene, and are often embraced because we as consumers of media are constantly looking for new ideas to consume.

1984

Winston... could they have made a less likable person? He is so boring to me I can't stand it! I have read this book before and I still don't like him. Anyway...
So about this brainwashing thing... I sometimes feel that advertisements and everything else in society brainwashes us just as in 1984, of course not as extreme. Do you ever feel like a prole? Like a law abiding robot? With advertisements everywhere (like at the gas station as Mina mentioned) how could you help but be influenced by them? Let's face it, our society has developed itself into a perfect brainwashing system, just as in 1984. Winston (in my mind) represents individual freedom. He obviously has to follow cerain rules of his society, but he also defies his government with his journal/thoughts, that is how he is free.
I think that 1984 is the perfect exaggeration of what life is really like.

Sports, Politics, and Language

An Associated Press article I read this morning made me recall George Lakoff's essay about the metaphors built into our language that shape our view of the world. In it, the reporter discusses how the Bush administration routinely uses sports imagery in its discourse. It got me thinking.

When we explain something complex to an audience, we use often metaphors and analogies to to convey an idea without overwhelming those who are uninformed with too many technical details, transferring the discussion into a context that is more familiar to the audience. When a poet attempts to describe her complex feelings about love or mortality, she may choose figurative language to represent these abstractions in concrete terms in such a way that we can experience them sensually. In this way, the greatest poetry makes us understand complex emotions with our bodies.

Politicians, who never relent in their efforts to advance their agendas, often use such imagery not to make what they are explaining clearer but to disguise an idea that the audience, if it were given enough info to understand the idea directly, would find upsetting, terrifying, outrageous, or damning of the speaker. For example, an Army spokesman describing the grisly deaths of ten American soldiers in a bomb attack might say, "We took one on the chin today," conjuring an image of a fist fight or a boxing match rather than charred body parts and young lives lost. We are less likely to doubt the whole war effort if we are taught to see its horrors in these terms. Language, then, can be used to distract us from the realities our world and our actions. Look out when perfectly understandable facts have been replaced by distracting metaphors.

In sports-distracted America, analogies to football, basketball, and baseball are incredibly useful to make things seem understandable but they can be incredibly deceptive. Certainly, most of us--especially men--understand sports and so understand these analogies. When we hear about touchdowns and homeruns, we understand, but few of us really understand the complexities of politics, of our own government, of history, of foreign relations, or our justice system, or of ethics. False sports analogies, like the ones described in the article, are often used to make us feel that the world is one big game that can be won or lost, that if we lose this one we can come back next season and try again, that the stakes are more about doing our best to defeat the other side than creating a peaceful whole, and that the world is divided up into teams we are loyal to no matter what.

What chance to do we have when all the news we get is during news briefs between televised sports and commercials?

1984

It is interesting how "telescreens" are everywhere in 1984, because that is the direction our world is heading towards. I was at a new Shell gas station yesterday and there was a little screen on every pump. I thought it was very unnecessary to air commercials at a gas station, but I noticed every customer was staring at their screen blankly while pumping. Isn’t it strange how people are attracted to T.V screens? I’m not saying there are better things to do than watch those Shell T.V shows while pumping gas, because in all honesty, there is really nothing else you can do while pumping gas. Pumping gas does not take much time in my day and it is not an activity I consider boring, but having a TV screen at my station does not make my experience any grander either. People watching the screen (including myself) shows that we live in a time where we feel the need to be constantly entertained.