Welcome back! Here's a link to the 10-10-10 Discussion article we annotated in class and discussed with each other: RT Interview: Oliver Stone & The US as an Orwellian State
Along with reading Orwell's 1984, we've also been making connections to our current state of affairs in the United States of America. One would have to be blindly insane to equate our land of freedom and liberty with the fictional land of Oceana in Orwell's dystopia. Clearly, our country is NOT an Orwellian state. However, one can always find similarities and points of comparison. For example, think about the freedoms Americans routinely surrender in order to fly safely from one US destination to another. Or what about the freedoms that we routinely enjoy without giving much thought to them, such as our freedom of speech. What happens when the government puts laws and procedures into place that shift the freedoms we take for granted out from under our feet? Is it a real possibility that expressing your moral outrage at long-established "sins" could become government-labeled "hate-speech"?
We began this novel with the question, how much are you willing to give up in order to be safe? What part of the constitution is it okay to suspend if doing so will keep a few (or many) Americans safer?
Examine the following links:
The US Senate Extends Warrantless Wiretaps for US citizens
http://rt.com/usa/news/senate-spying-intelligence-foreign-025/
The US Government can now read anyone's emails for any reason
http://rt.com/usa/news/privacy-emails-leahy-mccullagh-174/
Pakastan Introduces Law similar to the US Patriot Act
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/168222711/pakistans-patriot-act-could-target-politicians
Be familiar with the arguments/critiques in these articles. They will help form your research for your own defense or critique of Orwellian principles in current US policy.
Along with reading Orwell's 1984, we've also been making connections to our current state of affairs in the United States of America. One would have to be blindly insane to equate our land of freedom and liberty with the fictional land of Oceana in Orwell's dystopia. Clearly, our country is NOT an Orwellian state. However, one can always find similarities and points of comparison. For example, think about the freedoms Americans routinely surrender in order to fly safely from one US destination to another. Or what about the freedoms that we routinely enjoy without giving much thought to them, such as our freedom of speech. What happens when the government puts laws and procedures into place that shift the freedoms we take for granted out from under our feet? Is it a real possibility that expressing your moral outrage at long-established "sins" could become government-labeled "hate-speech"?
We began this novel with the question, how much are you willing to give up in order to be safe? What part of the constitution is it okay to suspend if doing so will keep a few (or many) Americans safer?
Examine the following links:
The US Senate Extends Warrantless Wiretaps for US citizens
http://rt.com/usa/news/senate-spying-intelligence-foreign-025/
The US Government can now read anyone's emails for any reason
http://rt.com/usa/news/privacy-emails-leahy-mccullagh-174/
Pakastan Introduces Law similar to the US Patriot Act
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/168222711/pakistans-patriot-act-could-target-politicians
Be familiar with the arguments/critiques in these articles. They will help form your research for your own defense or critique of Orwellian principles in current US policy.