As the government gains control and the people lose freedom, what will the future of the U.S. look like? The more George Orwell's Book 1984 comes true, the scarier it is the see the reality of it. Cameras, saved internet searches, phone data etc. have all become accessible information. The intrusion into the public's lives and privacy needs to be ceased before we (as the American people) lose our rights to liberty and freedom of expression. While reading, "Are We Witnessing the Last Grasp of American Democracy?" there were several quotes that stood out to me; particularly that “this information waits like a deadly virus inside government vaults to be turned against us”. Will the government continue to gather and store data until an uprising or revolt happens? It takes away freedom of thought, and makes me wonder, can the government use that (information that is gathered and stored) as evidence as they (the gov.) see fit and necessary? It's a scary thought to consider how much power, control and manipulation the government could truly have without the citizens realizing it.
In addition, there are several aspects of our society and country that not only the American government hides from the citizens, but the media conceals as well. The average American is aware of the job shortage (especially because the average American is economically in the 79%) is due to jobs going overseas. However, what most people are probably not aware of is the amount of jobs that have shifted overseas. While 2.9 million jobs have been cut, overseas jobs have increased by 2.4 million. Those numbers prove how large companies and corporations care about money, and not people. By reducing their (the companies and corporations costs) which decreases jobs at home. It's sad to think about the fact that employing Americans has even become an advertising technique for companies. This truly depicts the crucial state of job shortages in the U.S.
Another shocking number is the amount of Americans in jail or prison. I was blown away to know that the U.S. has 25% of all prisoners, yet only 5% of the world's population. Most of these come from petty crimes, such as stealing three times which gets someone prison for life?! That's absolutely absurd whereas companies steal thousands from people and live happily ever after. In addition, nearly 2.7 million people, or 12% of the work force in the U.S. are employed temporarily for companies such as Wal-Mart. This has a huge impact on our economy and society as a whole. These employees do not receive benefits such as health care or insurance, which puts that burden onto others who are working, the government and all of society to take care of. Although this 'technique' of temporary employment significantly benefits companies by reducing labor costs, it burdens society and the economy of the rest of the country.
All of these factors significantly contribute to the overall state of the U.S. from both economical, to societal problems that all affect one another. It is problems such as these that cause downfall rather than improvement, and burden America's society as a whole.
I agree with your second two points. The American prison system is one of my favorite topics to research, as it is so horribly structured it could be almost laughable. Jobs have long been an issue, but as upper-middle class Americans, we like to talk more about our problems than solve them. The one thing I don't really agree with is the "Big Brother" theory of government. The American public knowingly uses services such as trackable search engines. This nullifies any kind of anger the public could have over data collection. If you don't want your data collected, simply don't use those services. There are plenty of "anonymous" alternatives.
As the government gains control and the people lose freedom, what will the future of the U.S. look like? The more George Orwell's Book 1984 comes true, the scarier it is the see the reality of it. Cameras, saved internet searches, phone data etc. have all become accessible information. The intrusion into the public's lives and privacy needs to be ceased before we (as the American people) lose our rights to liberty and freedom of expression. While reading, "Are We Witnessing the Last Grasp of American Democracy?" there were several quotes that stood out to me; particularly that “this information waits like a deadly virus inside government vaults to be turned against us”. Will the government continue to gather and store data until an uprising or revolt happens? It takes away freedom of thought, and makes me wonder, can the government use that (information that is gathered and stored) as evidence as they (the gov.) see fit and necessary? It's a scary thought to consider how much power, control and manipulation the government could truly have without the citizens realizing it.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, there are several aspects of our society and country that not only the American government hides from the citizens, but the media conceals as well. The average American is aware of the job shortage (especially because the average American is economically in the 79%) is due to jobs going overseas. However, what most people are probably not aware of is the amount of jobs that have shifted overseas. While 2.9 million jobs have been cut, overseas jobs have increased by 2.4 million. Those numbers prove how large companies and corporations care about money, and not people. By reducing their (the companies and corporations costs) which decreases jobs at home. It's sad to think about the fact that employing Americans has even become an advertising technique for companies. This truly depicts the crucial state of job shortages in the U.S.
Another shocking number is the amount of Americans in jail or prison. I was blown away to know that the U.S. has 25% of all prisoners, yet only 5% of the world's population. Most of these come from petty crimes, such as stealing three times which gets someone prison for life?! That's absolutely absurd whereas companies steal thousands from people and live happily ever after. In addition, nearly 2.7 million people, or 12% of the work force in the U.S. are employed temporarily for companies such as Wal-Mart. This has a huge impact on our economy and society as a whole. These employees do not receive benefits such as health care or insurance, which puts that burden onto others who are working, the government and all of society to take care of. Although this 'technique' of temporary employment significantly benefits companies by reducing labor costs, it burdens society and the economy of the rest of the country.
All of these factors significantly contribute to the overall state of the U.S. from both economical, to societal problems that all affect one another. It is problems such as these that cause downfall rather than improvement, and burden America's society as a whole.
I agree with your second two points. The American prison system is one of my favorite topics to research, as it is so horribly structured it could be almost laughable. Jobs have long been an issue, but as upper-middle class Americans, we like to talk more about our problems than solve them.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I don't really agree with is the "Big Brother" theory of government. The American public knowingly uses services such as trackable search engines. This nullifies any kind of anger the public could have over data collection. If you don't want your data collected, simply don't use those services. There are plenty of "anonymous" alternatives.