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=**Emerging Into the Future**=

February 22, 2011
==="Government is not reason, nor eloquence. It is force. And like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master."-George Washington. By saying this, Washington means that government dominantly rules over the people; that it can do anything. When executed correctly, a citizen’s duty to control and contain his/her actions protects the ones around them. A fair, free society exists when nobody tries to limit the others’ freedoms. The government derives its power out of its own citizens, who feed its power through their actions. George Orwell’s //1984//, a futuristic novel about a corrupt society, illustrates a world in which all are ruled by a totalitarian government. The protagonist, Winston, fights against the system, only to end up fueling its ruling fire. In Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, the protagonist, Marcus, plans to overthrow the Department of Homeland Security, which has become corrupt in a post-terrorist-attacked world. By committing acts of terror, citizens give the system and the D.H.S. more and more ability to control their people. In these two novels and the present day, the government gains more power through the achievements, the wrongdoings, and the relationships of its citizens, which makes it a personal responsibility to control actions.=== ===Examples from //1984//, Little Brother, and the present world show that people who achieve unintentionally give the government more power. The government in George Orwell’s //1984// constantly watches over society with things like telescreens and thought police. Advances of technology have given the government ultimate surveillance superiority above the people. “The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmer, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (Orwell 2). //1984//’s interesting, futuristic world does come with its downsides, including an overly monitored environment. One cannot turn off the telescreen; it always watches them. Man’s invention of the telescreen advances the government’s power over the people, making it impossible to escape crime without getting “vaporized”. A secure environment does not necessarily bring a comfortable, free environment. The citizens in //1984// have had to give up liberty for security. Technological advances are vital forces that drive evolution, but misuses of technology lead to consequences. Cory Doctorow’s //Little Brother// does not only explain in detail the technology of hacking and third party software, but simulates a situation in which the government takes advantage of a large company’s promotion. “So razor blade companies like Microsoft pour a lot of effort into making it hard and/or illegal to compete with them on the blades. In Microsoft’s case, every Xbox has had countermeasures to prevent running software that was released by people who did not pay the Microsoft blood money for the right to sell Xbox programs” (Doctorow 94). A razor blade company gives away a free product solely to make money when consumers must buy components that make the free product function properly. In //Little Brother,// Microsoft takes on this form of business by giving away free Xboxes to make money off of the games. Xboxes are capable of functioning as computer hard drives, and when hacked, can run third-party operating systems. The government has taken advantage of Microsoft by receiving thousands of free Xboxes, but instead of games being bought, thus money being returned to Microsoft from their losses of giving away free Xboxes, these systems are hacked and used as computers. The government has taken advantage of a non government-owned company’s achievement and used it to gain more power. Although the government may use their people’s technological achievements against them, cases exist in which the government saves the people because of their use of man's achievements. In 1915, a breakthrough was achieved - a milestone made by a physicist whose idea would soon change the way wars are fought all around the world. Sonar, an acronym for Sound Navigation And Ranging, was invented by French physicist, Paul Langevin, in 1915, originally intended for use in World War I. Langevin’s purpose was to help the government gain control over other countries in times of war. Sincemedia type="custom" key="8445976" width="116" height="143" align="right" then, the United States navy has in fact won many battles with the use of sonar. It helped America defeat Germany’s continuing threat, U-Boats, which torpedoed U.S. ships. The Lusitania, a passenger ship traveling from New York to Liverpool, England, was struck starboard underwater by a torpedo and sank within 18 minutes of impact. 1,198 Americans died in the attack- a devastating fatality rate. With the invention of sonar, however, situations like this have been avoided. When sonar functions properly, ultrasonic waves are sent out through a medium. After bouncing off an object, these waves return to the source of the sonar waves, telling a computer how far away an object lies and its approximate shape. This allowed U.S. ships to avoid being sunk by German missiles during WWI and WWII by detecting where submarines are hiding, using sonar. Great inventions like sonar usually come to advantage to the government. Paul Langevin’s invention saved possibly thousands of lives, while at the same time giving the navy a new form of protection. The system, the leaders, and citizens unite with somewhat of a competitive edge. Citizens' achievements usually end up fueling the government's power over its citizens.===

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===The wrongdoings of citizens in //1984//, //Little Brother//, and the present world also contribute to the government’s increasing rule over its people. In America, citizens are guaranteed the freedom of speech. However, in totalitarian environments like in //1984//, people are persecuted for sharing their thoughts and opinions. “A heavy black volume, amateurishly bound, with no name or title on the cover. The print also looked slightly irregular. The pages were worn at the edges, and fell apart easily, as if the book had passed through many hands. The inscription on the title page ran: THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM by EMMANUEL GOLDSTEIN. [Winston began reading]” (Orwell 184). Winston, the protagonist in //1984//, resists the totalitarian system running his society in which rebels are not allowed. By being a rebel, Winston must control his every action to keep his identity secret. By reading aloud a book about resisting the government to a secret thought police, authority catches and vaporizes him. The government gains more power out of his wrongdoing because they are allowed to torture and interrogate him; they gain power over //him//. The mistakes that people make can also be violently executed and endanger a majority of the population. Mistakes have been made in the past, but in the fictional world of //Little Brother//, terrorists attack the country, which gives the government more ways to dictate the people. “Severe haircut woman had talked about ‘the bridge’ blowing up, and I’d just assumed that she was talking about the Golden Gate Bridge, but I was wrong. The terrorists had blown up the Bay Bridge” (Doctorow 71). Acts of terrorism against nations tend to bring about the most increases of power for the government. In //Little Brother//, terrorists explode the Bay Bridge, killing thousands of innocent commuters. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security gains a significant amount of control over the people of San Francisco. These innocent citizens become governed much more strictly due to the wrongdoing of another person. Governmental power increases depend greatly on terrorist attacks. Many countries have been attacked by a foreign country, but few others truly know the power of an attack from their own citizens. On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh, an American citizen, conducted the most devastating act of terrorism on America until the September 11, 2001, attacks, yet was an American citizen himself. At 9:02 AM CST, 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel inside of a Ryder truck was detonated in a parking lot of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The blast instantly claimed 168 lives and damaged 324 buildings nearby, creating a staggering $652 million in overall damage. Taking on the majority of the blast force was a day care center, where nineteen children were killed and who's bodies were blackened by the bomb's intense heat. media type="youtube" key="LODPR54cPdk" height="390" width="480" align="right"Responding to the bombing, the United States Government created several acts of legislation. One of these was the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which amends the writ of habeas corpus. This writ releases prisoners from unlawful detention. These amendments include statutes of limitation in death penalty cases and when habeas petitions must be filed. Because of one citizen’s attack against America, the government gains a new, increased level of power over the governed. Like the results of the Oklahoma City bombing, terror causes sacrifices of freedom for security. Citizens make mistakes. Whether big or small, they usually give something some kind of power. In cases like in //1984, Little Brother//, and the present day, liberty was exchange for security and the government gained more power over the governed.=== ===The system’s power over its citizens gradually increases also because of the relationships of its citizens in //1984, Little Brother//, and the present world. Julia and Winston in //1984// have a relationship involving sex and secrecy, but they are not aware that their connection will end up giving the government another edge against the people they rule. “’We are the dead,’ he said. ‘We are the dead,’ echoed Julia dutifully. ‘You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them. They sprang apart. Winston’s entrails seemed to have turned into ice. He could see the white all round the irises of Julia’s eyes. Her face had turned a milky yellow. The smear of rouge that was still on each cheekbone stood out sharply, almost as though unconnected with the skin beneath. ‘You are the dead,’ repeated the iron voice. ‘It was behind the picture,’ breathed Julia” (Orwell 221). Thought police - unknown spies seeking to catch unlawful citizens - are completely concealed by the rest of society. This makes it virtually impossible to discover thought police without getting vaporized for a crime against the system. Julia and Winston get caught together, spawning ideas on how to rebel. Due to a telescreen, which has recorded their whole conversation, hidden behind a picture frame, they are caught in an act of rebellion and immediately brought in for questioning and torture. Julia brought out Winston’s hate for the system; therefore their relationship led the government to gain power over them. Julia and Winston must endure detainment and torture while authorities punish them for thought crimes. Similarities lie in between Julia and Winston's detainment and Darryl and Marcus’s experience in a secret prison in //Little Brother//. In detainment, prisoners are usually interrogated. Marcus’s relationship with Darryl has secrets about technology within it, which the D.H.S. uses against Darryl to derive secrets from him to gain control over citizens. “At first, their questions to us were just the same crap as ever, who did it, how did they do it. But after a little while, they switched to asking us about the Xnet. Of course, we’d never heard of it. That didn’t stop them asking. Darryl told me that they brought him arphid cloners, Xboxes, all kinds of technology and demanded that he tell them who used them, where they learned to mod them. ” (Doctorow 249). A man, who appears homeless, runs into Marcus after school one day. After the incident, Marcus heads home suspiciously and later finds a letter in his pocket. Its contents state that his best friend, Darryl, still lives in the secret prison that Marcus and Darryl were both in at the same time, until Marcus escaped. The letter discloses that the D.H.S. also harshly treats and regularly interrogates Darryl on subjects he does not know of. The government knows that the two teenage boys are friends and uses that fact to get information out of Darryl. The government therefore gains more power over Darryl because of Darryl’s relationship with Marcus. Relationships always have secrecy and sometimes these secrets are vital to the protection of the citizens. The United States Government was shocked when evidence showed that one of their very own soldiers’ relationship with another man led to leaks of top-secret materials. In 2010, 260,000 diplomatic cables were released illegally onto the website, WikiLeaks. These disturbing and revealing documents were obtained by American soldier, Bradley Manning, who allegedly burned the information onto CD’s labeled “Lady GaGa”, then gave the classified information to Wikileaks founder Julian Assagne. Examples of these documents reveal everything from government officials making fun of other countries’ leaders to a savage video of media type="youtube" key="c1O7jL_hKXQ" height="273" width="447" align="left"American helicopter pilots shooting at innocent civilians. This humiliated the government, but more so gave them the power to enforce legislation against it. The [|SHIELD (Securing Human Intelligence and Enforcing Lawful Dissemination) Act], introduced by Senator Joseph Lieberman, declares it a federal crime to post the name of a U.S. intelligence source due to the WikiLeaks incident, and was passed through legislation on. The legislation directly limited the freedoms of the American people on the Internet. “WikiLeaks stands to improve our democracy, not weaken it,” says Evan Hughes, founder of wired news. Improvement of democracy through illegal actions may not be the best way of doing so, but could be necessary in relative situations. The relationship between Bradley Manning and Julian Assagne directly led to the government gaining more power over its citizens by Congress passing an Anti-WikiLeaks bill, thus limiting the peoples’ rights to freedom of speech. In the very fabric of relationships lies secrecy, which gives the government more power in //1984, Little Brother,// and the present day.=== ===Through the citizens’ actions, which include their achievements, wrongdoings, and relationships, the government gains more power. Examples from George Orwell’s //1984//, Cory Doctorow’s //Little Brother//, and the modern day and age, show that self-control makes a good citizen. Because one may be unintentionally rewarding the government when performing actions, they always must be conscious of the effects their actions will have on the system. A good citizen does not in endanger others’ freedoms. Liberty is a gift, and gifts should not be exchanged; therefore one’s rights must not be thrown away to increase the government’s power.===

Appleby, Joyce Oldham., Alan Brinkley, Albert S. Broussard, James M. McPherson, and Donald A. Ritchie. //The American Vision: Modern times//. New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.
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