Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Big Brother's World

When one thinks of order versus freedom, one immediately thinks of mccarthyism, nazism or a libertarian.  When I ponder the relationship of order versus freedom, I immediately resort to two of my favorite books.  The first being 1984 by George Orwell and the second being Animal Farm, again by George Orwell.

The books highlight the problem with a order oriented world.  In 1984, a man's every thoughts are known and predicted by the government for seven years.  Everything he does ends up being not his choice, but the choice of the government.  Mr. Orwell vividly describes a world that is unappealing to those who have any common sense.  If there is nowhere to have privacy, then you aren't free but a slave to the government.  The book drives home the quotation, "big brother is watching you" as big brother represents the oppressive government.

The second book by George Orwell, Animal Farm, highlights a farm run by the animals after a glorious revolution.  The animals are then run by the smart pigs.  In the end, the pigs are tyrants who are no better than the humans.  The book details how even freedom can lead to more order.  If peasants with ignorance overthrow a well established government, the end result will be another well established government that is probably more tyrannical than the previous.  The book asserts that we are stuck with the government we have and it would be rather difficult to change it all together for the better.

In a post 9/11 world, concerned citizens immediately resort to a need for more order.  But order comes at a cost.  Order takes away liberties and makes a person feel like they can never have privacy. Body-scans at the airport now show more body than ever and some terror suspects don't even have the right to Habeas Corpus.  Unfortunately a world with freedom means a lack of security.  In a Israeli backed country, freedom is never ideal, as said country could succumb to acts of terror quite easily.  So the question is what the right balance of order and freedom is.

I have concluded that the best way to find happiness for the citizens of this nation is to have more freedom than order.  Order leads to racial profiling and a majority rule situation.  Tyranny is horrid in any situation thus freedom prevails.  Although freedom prevails, it must be noted that said freedom is still well within the confines of the Constitution and does not intentionally hurt any minorities for the benefit of the majority.  Freedom would easily be obtained if this country simply had a better foreign policy record.  Because that is out of the question we very well may end up as a big brother state.


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