Privacy

            Privacy is something that is highly valued in present society. People in modern societies like the United States will protest against the government when the smallest amount of their privacy has been breached. When things are hidden in the small print or people are not directly told what can and cannot be done, society will also revolt because it considers actions such as those to also be breaches of privacy. The average person in society today also doesn’t understand the vast array of information that is public property such as Facebook posts, search history, emails, and even texts messages. Overall, when it comes to the issue of privacy, society does not like it when the privilege of privacy is taken away.

            In 1984, there is little to no privacy at all for the main characters or anyone in that society for that matter. The telescreens are mounted everywhere for surveillance of every single thing that anyone and everyone does at all times of the day and night. On occasion, the inner party members on the other side of the screen will respond or react to something that the outer party member does where the telescreen is actually located. This shows that the people of Oceana really are being watched at all times and that nothing they do or say will go unseen or unheard; every action made is scrutinized by the inner party and is determined to be appropriate, not appropriate, or an attack against the government if it is bad enough. There is a group that is much worse than the telescreens though, and they are called the thought police. The telescreens can only arrest someone if they either make a physical motion or say something to give them away; with the telescreens, if a party member is good enough at hiding their emotions, they can get away with thought crimes. The thought police on the other hand can. The thought police are a specially trained group of individuals that can find the minutest detail wrong in someone’s behavior and find a way to get the suspect to give out incriminating information. With the telescreens and the thought police, a person’s actions, voices, and thoughts are not safe; there is no privacy in Oceana.

            In The Truman Show, every aspect of Truman’s life was being watched, nothing was private. The cameras were on Truman for the entirety of his life, nothing he did was private. While Truman might have thought that he had his privacy when he was in his own home, he didn’t even in the slightest. His entire life from the moment of his birth to the moment that he stepped out of the manmade dome, his life was for the world to see every single thing that he did live on television. His thoughts also weren’t private. The reason for this is that if he told anyone, whether that be his parents, or his friends, or his girlfriend, those thoughts were now public knowledge because the cameras were everywhere and captured everything. His drive to work wasn’t even private; the crew would give directions to the actors as he was turning down any given street. Finally, once Truman came to the realization that his privacy and his life as a whole was being taken from him, he summoned all of his strength and left.

Handicapped

In Harrison Bergeron people are handicapped for whatever their abilities are that are greater than that of the rest of society. Examples of these include ear pieces to scatter the thoughts of the smart, weights to hold down the strong, and masks for the beautiful. If I were to live in this world, I would also be handicapped. The main thing that would handicap me would be the ear piece to scatter my thoughts because I am a fairly smart student and I also enjoy just thinking at times for now particular reason about no particular topic. I would also be handicapped physically, but only slightly. Although I am a cross country and track runner, my abilities have been greatly decrease in the past year due to real life health issues including bad knees and injured lungs resulting from a bad case of bronchitis last winter.

Propaganda

            Propaganda is present in every aspect of life whether we are aware of its presence or not. This can include anything as obvious as a political commercial to anything as simple as a school t-shirt. There are a large variety of types of propaganda; however, they all accomplish the same purpose of selling either a product or idea. While we are more aware of propaganda that is associated with actual physical products or services such as an advertisement for a new television or trying to get you to switch to a different phone or internet provider, there are also advertisements that deal with ideas instead of products. An example of this kind of propaganda is anything that involves politics; since deal with trying to get a point or idea across about someone who is running for an office instead of actually selling anything. While most propaganda can be either considered bad or just not useful, there are a few circumstances where “good propaganda” exists. The two main instances of this are when there is an improvement on a product and also when an idea is put out there that can genuinely help people if acted upon.

            The first type of beneficial propaganda, in my opinion, is when a product is improved upon. This does not mean when a new iPhone comes out with fancy “new” features, but instead when a genuinely new product comes out. An example of this would be a new microchip that has more capacity and power in a smaller and more compact form. The problem with this is that new inventions or innovations are often very expensive. Good propaganda also results because of this overpriced nature; an example of this in the medical field is generic medicine instead of the brand name version. In addition to improvements on products, there is also good propaganda for services. Examples of this include the free busses in downtown Chicago or free wifi available at restaurants or other locations. The reason that this is good propaganda is because it improves upon the services that are already in place for customers and enhances the experience.

            The second type of beneficial propaganda are ideas that benefit society. An example of this would be commercials that are for St. Jude’s or Children’s hospital. The reason that these are beneficial examples of propaganda are because the proceeds received from the propaganda are put towards enhancing a person’s life to a quality that could not be reached without the help of others. Likewise, commercials or ads asking for donations to other organizations such as the Red Cross or the Soup Kitchen are also beneficial because they can help the less fortunate, bettering their lives and improving the quality of their lives.

            While most propaganda that is present in the world today is useless, there are some instances where propaganda is not only useful, but also helpful. These instances of good propaganda are few and far between and are often over shadowed by the millions useless ads for the new iPhone or other iProduct that is coming out or commercials that are about bickering politicians and nothing else. Good propaganda is out there though, and it aims to better society as a whole.