Are We Living In A Dystopian Future We Were Warned About In Novels? Yes, Yes We Are!

I like to write (obviously) but it also goes without saying that I like to read. One of my favorite types of books are the books that make our future look grim, deadly, controlling, and fearful. I guess you can say I am morbid like that. Some well known ones are Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and Brave New World.

And this book series. Maybe you have heard of it?

I don't know if it is the zombie-like existence of humans, or the wacky fashions these books always have us imagine, but I like reading about a civilization that is being controlled and manipulated. Where freedom is a bad word and you do what you are told, don't ask questions, and "get back to work you little shit!".

Some people think we are heading toward a 1984 type of existence. Where censorship is the rule, you are told what to think, when to think, and Big Brother is watching you.

Pretty fucking scary!!

But have no fear, because despite the warnings we are being given by extreme right-wingers, we are not heading toward a future of Big Brother. But we are not heading away from it either. I have a theory (if you have been reading my other posts you are probably beginning to see a pattern here) that we are heading toward a wonderful mixture of all these delightfully terrifying futures. 

Trust me when I say that I do not think most governments are brilliant. Hell we build entertainment platforms just to make fun of government in this country. (Thank God we still can. For now... DUN DUN DUN) However, they are sometimes not completely fucking stupid. I highly doubt the powers the be, or the powers that will one day be, will pick up 1984 and think, "Holy Shit-Nuts this is a great Fucking idea! We should totally do this, because I am sure that this book (that was first published in 1949) has NEVER before been read. These people are sitting ducks for mind control and they won't even know what is happening". Yeah, like I said, they are not totally brain dead. However, after reading the books listed above I cannot help but see some similarities between those realities, and ours. And because we live in an instant gratification society (something that will be discussed later!) I will share the eerie connections between the land of make believe and the land of the free. 

The Hunger Games

Just for the sake of time and because I don't want to give away spoilers to those who didn't want to read the trilogy but are patiently waiting for all them to come out on DVD, I am only going to focus on the first book. Because it is already out on DVD. This is the most recent published of all the books so we have not had the passage of time to compare those books to our lives the way we can the other books. So I don't have as much insight to this one. I wanted to include it, not because of what it predicts, but because of where author Suzanne Collins got the idea from. She claims that she was flipping through her television and noticed the invasion of Iraq showing on television and a reality show where people competed. Hence, a book trilogy based on the idea of killing people in a game on live television for the entertainment of other people. Sure you can dismiss this idea and think this would never happen and curl up with your blankie and rock yourself to sleep tonight, but remember that history does have this bad habit of repeating itself.  

Sweet dreams.

Fahrenheit 451

In this "universe" firefighters do not put out fires, they start them. And what are they burning? Books! (Seriously, who didn't see that one coming?) But, fortunately for us we do not have fire fighters pull into our driveways to set our goddamn houses on fire!

On the other hand, how bad could it be? 

But what they do have is a society that is engrossed in mass media and technology. Which, of course, the government uses to shape the culture and thinking of the people. Ray Bradbury envisioned a world that looks pretty close to ours. From flat screen televisions to ear buds, our technology of today is very similar to the technology in the novel. And the people in their universe and ours are obsessed with it. (Don't think this is happening? Leave your iPhone home for one day! One day! Do it! I fucking dare you!) But there is still this messy business of book burnings, surely our society would never allow such a thing. Bradbury explains in the novel that the books that were being written were becoming too controversial and upsetting too many people. After all, there was an intense need for political correctness so the books had to go so that they would not "offend" anyone. (Your starting to think now, aren't you?)

1984

When people think of a future that is pretty fucking horrific, this book tends to rear its ugly head. The major themes of this novel is conformity, censorship, and (my favorite) big brother. One of the ways the government in George Orwell's novel controls people, is by constantly watching the people. Surveillance is the issue here. We all know about the controversial Patriot Act that enabled the government to "keep tabs" on "persons of interest". That sounds harmless enough right? Sure, it may sound innocent but it's still government surveillance on private citizens. It is true that some parts of the Patriot Act has expired, some parts are still in use. In 2011 the Supreme Court had to hear a case in which police officers put a GPS tracking device on a suspect's car without a warrant. Thank God the Supreme Court unanimously called bullshit and told them they could NOT do that. In fact, during this controversy Justice Breyer mentioned this famous book. So one point for TEAM FREEDOM!! But we are still learning about ways that the FBI can hack the GPS found in cellphones and other scary stuff that can be abused, IF we let them. 

Brave New World 

This novel by Aldous Huxley is a personal favorite of mine. It has all of the materialistic, egocentric, sex crazed druggies that a girl could ever hope for! I could literally stop right there and already a lot of you are seeing the connection. But for the slower ones, I will break it down. In this "universe" the government pushes consumer consumption and materialism at every corner. They are always telling you to throw out the old, and buy the new. Hey, how did you like the government "stimulus package" that was suppose to keep the economy up by encouraging people to go out and buy shit they don't need? Another reason I love this book is the fact the government does not censor any-fucking-thing. They don't have to. It's an instant gratifying society so the people are gladly censoring themselves. No information is restricted, in fact, there is an information overload. The superficial, easy, and pleasant are what the people want. But we are not so superficial are we? We care. What are the most popular "news" stories right now? "Burger King's answer to the McRib", "Google unveils music streaming service, gaming extras", and " Beam me up popcorn Scotty; space station crew gets 'Star Trek' film before Earthlings" (Okay so I am a nerd and I liked that last story and thought it was really cool but I at least know about all the other shit too.) Meanwhile, in "other" news today there has been more confirmed reports of a SARS like virus that has so far killed 20 people in 6 countries, Spain and Greece are seeing almost daily riots because of their unemployment rates, and more than half of prisoners being held in Gitmo are on hunger strikes because of the appalling conditions. All of that has been reported on TODAY! But hey, at least we know about our fast food, instant streams, and movies!

Hell you don't need to read Fahrenheit 451, 1984, or A Brave New World. Because it seems like we are already living it! And if you are a student in middle school or high school you may never have to! Or The Hunger Games for that matter. Because all of these books have made it on the most challenged and banned books in our country. Yes, the land of the free and the home of the brave are having to take these thought provoking, inspiring, and cautionary tales out of our schools. 

Oh, it's not the government's doing. Like I said, this world is not completely 1984, the people are demanding they be taken out. In 2011 The Hunger Games was the third most banned book in the country. And in the years between 2000-2009 Fahrenheit 451 landed spot number 69 on the 100 most banned books of that decade and A Brave New World landed at spot number 36. And 1984 is number 9 on the top 100 classic books that have been banned. The reasons? Parents have cited complaints ranging from inappropriate language, suggestive sexual themes, and (of course) being anti-religion. 

The truth of the matter is that the government really isn't behind all of these developments. They are doing what is natural, taking the power that we give away freely. We are censoring ourselves, censoring education to the future, and becoming more and more lazy. So maybe you should read these books while you still can, because even though these books were written DECADES AGO we apparently have not learned shit from them. 

 

   
 

Protests in the Modern Age: Why Anonymous is Making History

When the word “protest” is said many images can be conjured up in your mind, depending on your life and the times you lived in. For many African-Americans they still think of the sit-ins at cafes’ or Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat. Or they may think about the March on Washington lead by Dr. King, or the brutal force the government used such as attack dogs and police batons. For many people my parent’s age they think of the War protests that went on in the 60’s and into the 70’s. They think of men burning their draft cards in protest of a war that was wildly unpopular. For many law student’s they think about the right to petition and protest the government as defined by our First Amendment Right and they may think of subsequent court rulings that have upheld that right.  

But what about our generation? What does our right to protest look like in the 21^st century? To me, when I think of protest my mind goes to a crowd of people in Guy Faux masks Rick Rolling a crowd and holing up signs with catz on it just for the lolz. That is my generation of protestors.

The media has labeled the group Anonymous as many things including terrorists, hacktavists, and bored teenagers with too much time on their hands. I was first introduced to Anonymous in 2008 during the Project Chanology phase when they were protesting the church of Scientology. And I have followed the group’s activities ever since.

With some protests, people would go out bearing their Guy Faux masks and physically show up to places, such is the case with much of Project Chanology and later when many Anons came out in support of Occupy Wall street. But 98% of Anonymous work is done from the inside of a home using nothing but knowledge and skill and a computer with internet access.

Just recently members of Anonymous hacked into the United States Department of Justice after the suicide of Aaron Swartz. More information about that can be found here: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/anonymous-hijacks-federal-website-threatens-doj-document-dump-174943824--abc-news-politics.html.

Another way Anonymous gets their message across is through the use of Youtube. But Youtube, being owned by a major corporation which Anonymous has had past issues with, quickly tries to remove all videos as soon as they appear. But Anonymous is a lot like the Greek mythological creature Lernaean Hydra. Every time one “head” is cut off, two more appear in its place. Such is the way with Anonymous videos, every time Youtube takes one down, two more are uploaded which is why no Anonymous endorsed video has ever been successfully removed from the site.

They freely ask people to upload and share the information. Because at the root of Anonymous is freedom, mainly, freedom of information. They hacked companies like PayPal and Visa when they would no longer allow their users to donate to the controversial website Wikileaks. During the protests in Egypt when the Egyptian government shut down the internet, Anonymous worked with many people to help them override the government denial of the internet, and many members of Anonymous took to faxing articles off of the internet to private Egyptian businesses and schools in an effort to spread information where information was being denied.

Governments have managed to trace down and prosecute members of Anonymous, but that has not deterred people from continuing in the internet “protests” of hacking and whatnots. Mainly because the group itself is like the space that gave birth to it, the internet. So by definition Anonymous is chaotic and sporadic. There is no leader, there are no followers. If you want to be in Anonymous or take part in an activity that Anonymous is doing, than you simply do it. If some of them are doing things you don’t agree with you simply don’t partake in that action. It is as easy to join and leave Anonymous as it is to poen and close a web browser.

That is precisely where Anonymous gains its strength. Yes there has been some in fighting between different factions, but nothing that has ousted anyone who is or has been affiliated with some or all of Anonymous agenda. No government can actually “take down” the organization because of its chaotic order. There is no leader and no chain of command.

There is not a secret base that the group operates from. These are private citizens working from home. There are no “bosses”, no “lieutenants”, no “foot soldiers”. Everyone is equal. Everyone can go out and do something on their own and have a few other “members” join them or not. There is no way that the government can “infiltrate” the group. Sure, they can take down a few kids by dumping their computer, but it doesn’t topple the whole of Anonymous. It really doesn’t stop any of them; it only makes some of them more careful. It may make a few people boost their computer security a little better.

Just like African-Americans may think of Dr. King or Malcolm X when they think of the word protest, and just like my parents may think of the men burning draft cards and Woodstock when they think of the word protest, many in my generation will think of Anonymous, the faceless crowd that represents the internet, with an ever changing agenda and with people coming and going like traffic to a website. Anonymous is history in the making. A group that was born from the internet, and works within the internet is the group that will embody the idea of protests in this age of information.

And I don’t think they are leaving anytime soon.

They are legion.

They do not forgive.

They do not forget.

Expect them.        

Banning Pro-Ana: Saving Girls or Inhibiting Free Speech?

How far will websites go to prohibit self harm and what will be banned next?

Popular social networking sites Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram have banned "pro-ana" activities from their websites. This move is just the latest as more and more websites and blogs are attempting to ban content that some describe as "eating disorder propaganda". These social networking sites have put forth a new policy regarding content that is used to promote "self-harm". An official announcement from Tumblr was published in the staff blog (found here) outlining their two step plan to remove and discourage pro-ana content.

While many are praising the efforts of these sites to remove the questionable content, many people still remain skeptical about the decision. They do not like the idea of social networking sites limiting the freedom of speech that has been commonplace since the emergence of the internet phenomenon. Some are questioning how far these social networking sites will take it, and they worry about what might be censored and banned next.

In our society, censorship has become a dirty word that conjures up images of tyrannical governments who deny basic rights to their citizens. Even the websites themselves have continually condemned governments for attempting to censor the internet. Tumblr was at the forefront of the fight against the SOPA Bill last year (remember this?) but they were fighting against government intervention, not their own. So do they have the right to censor their own website? Yes, absolutely! First of all, it is their company they own it. Second of all, you agreed to that when you accepted the terms of service (Maybe some of you will start reading what you are agreeing to from now on.) That question is easy. The harder question is, should they? 

Legally the websites have the right to determine what is acceptable and what is not. However, this may prove to be a challenge. How can someone determine what is "pro-ana" and what is not when there are so many grey areas? Take into consideration the two photographs below: one of them was found after using the search word "thinspiration", and the other was found by using the word "beauty". So which picture is which?   

According to Google, the top picture "pro-ana" and the bottom picture is beautiful. However, both pictures are of the same woman, Natalia Vodianova. So which one should be censored? Which picture of Natalia is acceptable, and which  picture promotes self-harm? Or are they both damaging and should not be used? And do we want someone making that decision for us?

Many men might want to post either or both of those pictures to a website. And many women blog and post pictures relating to fashion and beauty, all of which consists of models who are beautiful and really skinny. So how will the websites determine who is advocating eating disorders, and who is simply sharing photographs of fashion models who are famous because they met that standard of beauty that our society  created which led to the eating disorders to begin with (see irony). 

Eating disorders are an illness of the mind and body and it is tragic. But banning the content from websites have not worked in the past, in fact it has only made it worse. If Tumblr, Pinerest, and all of the social networking sites really care about this problem then stop doing what doesn't work and try something new.