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During totalitarian leadership, many control tactics are used to maintain power. Whether it is censorship, revised history, terror, or propaganda, these tactics ensure that the dictator remains in power. I believe the three most important tactics are propaganda, censorship, and terror. The most effective is terror, because fear can make people completely change who they are as people to stay alive. If you can control what people are afraid of, you can control almost every aspect of their lives. One of the simplest ways of controlling a society is by propaganda. By surrounding your civilians with pro-leader artwork and media, you can eventually convince the people that totalitarianism is actually for their benefit. Using propaganda to sway people’s opinions on the government takes away their human right to chose who and what they stand for. The change in propaganda shows how the dictator’s power increased over time. By looking at posters from the early 1940’s, when Stalin was starting to gain power, and looking at posters from the early to mid-1950’s, when Stalin was in total command, you can very easily see the differences. In the 1940’s propaganda, Stalin is usually pictured with a group of people, symbolizing the new government as a whole. In the 1950’s propaganda, Stalin is usually pictured with no one else, showing that he has become a totalitarian dictator, to be the only leader honored by the country. You can see that the propaganda started out in favor of the general government, but eventually became in favor of the singular leader. In 1984, you don’t see as many early forms of propaganda, but you can tell that now, the people are surrounded by pro – Big Brother propaganda. Even when Winston is at home, he is still surroun... ... middle of paper ... ...on’t know what will happen to them. The fear is worse than the actual punishment. I believe that terror is the most important control tactic because it directly affects the most human rights. Censorship and propaganda take away a few rights, but terror has the ability to take every single human right. The obvious affect on happiness when your human rights are taken away is that you have neither freedom nor security. You are left with nothing but fear. All in all, taking human rights away by terror is the most effective, yet cruelest way of maintaining power in a totalitarian government. You take the most from people, but you get the most power. This is a main reason why group security is more important than individual freedom. When you are guaranteed safety, you can find happiness within yourself. If all you have is freedom, there is no way of ensuring your safety.
Our nation seems as if it is in a constant battle between freedom and safety. Freedom and security are two integral parts that keep our nation running smoothly, yet they are often seen conflicting with one another. “Tragedies such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings may invoke feelings of patriotism and a call for unity, but the nation also becomes divided, and vulnerable populations become targets,” (Wootton 1). “After each attack a different group or population would become targets. “The attack on Pearl Harbor notoriously lead to Japanese Americans being imprisoned in internment camps, the attacks on 9/11 sparked hate crimes against those who appeared to be Muslim or Middle Eastern,” (Wootton 1). Often times people wind up taking sides, whether it be for personal freedoms or for national security, and as a nation trying to recover from these disasters we should be leaning on each other for support. Due to these past events the government has launched a series of antiterrorist measures – from ethnic profiling to going through your personal e-mail (Begley 1). Although there are times when personal freedoms are sacrificed for the safety of others, under certain circumstances the government could be doing more harm than good.
Is the American government trustworthy? Edward Joseph Snowden (2013) released to the United States press* selected information about the surveillance of ordinary citizens by the U.S.A.’s National Security Agency (N.S.A.), and its interconnection to phone and social media companies. The motion picture Citizenfour (2014), shows the original taping of those revelations. Snowden said that some people do nothing about this tracking because they have nothing to hide. He claims that this inverts the model of responsibility. He believes that everyone should encrypt Internet messages and abandon electronic media companies that track personal information and Internet behavior (op.cit, 2014). Snowden also stressed to Lawrence Lessig (2014) the importance of the press and the first amendment (Lessig – Snowden Interview Transcript, [16:28]). These dynamics illustrate Lessig’s (2006) constrain-enable pattern of powers that keep society in check (2006, Code: Version 2.0, p. 122). Consider Lessig’s (2006) question what is “the threat to liberty?” (2006, p. 120). Terrorism is a real threat (Weber, 2013). Surveillance by social media and websites, rather than the government, has the greater negative impact on its users.
The establishment and success of both the USSR and Nazi Germany are largely due to one common factor. The attributes of Stalin and Hitler enabled them to successfully gain and maintain complete control over their government and enforce total rule to establish the party superiority. Schlesinger describes leadership as the ability to “move, inspire, and mobilize masses of people so that they act together in pursuit of an end” (Schlesinger 1). Stalin and Hitler themselves as individuals and leaders are as infamous and complex as the ruthless totalitarian governments they implemented. Being on polar opposite...
The novel, 1984, written by George Orwell, gives readers an insight to a possible frightening future where one government has complete and definite control of the people. But “control” might not be the term to describe such a rule. The Party dominates every aspect of life. There is not a single thing that is not under the Party’s rule. Feelings, history, language, statistics, and even human nature are submissive to the Party. They corrupt the mind so much that there is no longer a line that separates truth from a lie. Slogans are repeated through telescreens on a daily basis so the people are gradually forced to believe in illogical statements. Upon first glance, it may seem that a 1984 society is not even imaginable in the world we live in currently. But is it really logical to make such an assumption so quickly? Do we know that what we see on the news and read in our history textbooks is completely accurate? The Internet is one of the most powerful technologies our world has, consisting of an insurmountable amount of information, which is not always what it seems. Ultimately, there are so many things that we do not know, some of which is being held a secret from us. Modern day society shockingly has evidence of a transformation into a menacing 1984 society because of similar government actions and abuse of advanced technology.
... towards the enemies of the government helps fear remain an effective governing force. An example today of a totalitarian regime that uses fear to control is Iraq. The leader Saddam Hussein gained his power and maintains his regime by performing brutal acts to his enemies to instill fear in his population. The fear and oppression he places on his people make thousands of them support religious ideals. During his presidential election Saddam received a hundred percent of the population votes in his favor. The majority of the Iraqis that voted for Saddam would vote against him if they did not fear Saddam's secret police. Lastly in Iraq people are paranoid to speak out against the government because of fear of punishment and death by the secret police. Since Iraq is a totalitarian government run by fear the people will only become more untrustworthy and isolated.
The government uses many forms of psychological control to trick citizens into giving away their rights, ‘for their own good’. They play on our emotions to make it seem like they are always just trying to help us, or make things easier, safer, better, etc. etc. They distort things to make them seem sad or scary so that we will have a stronger reaction to them and demand results from the government. The main emotion that the government plays on is fear. When you put fear into people they are more eager to ask for ...
Is the patriot act necessary if it protects but threatens our civil liberates? The patriot act threatens civil liberates. The U.S. is spying without the people’s consent. The patriot act will prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. The patriot act can be used to catch wanted criminals. The patriot act protects the people from danger but jeopardizes their civil rights.
The book “1984” by George Orwell is a fictional work that was penned as a discourse on Orwell’s views of what it would be like to live in a totalitarianism society. It is my belief that his views were based on his personal life experiences as he witnessed first hand many of the violent crimes perpetuated by those in positions of authority. Often, these crimes against one segment of society were carried out by other members of the same society in the name of political advancement or at other times out of fear for one’s life. Due to his experiences, Orwell began to write of his hatred of political power and the concept of a totalitarianism society. “1984” serves as a warning to readers of how a government can become abusive when seeking total control of it’s population. Furthermore, it showcases in great detail how a society can allow itself to be controlled through a series of psychological abuses and manipulation of historical information.
Thomas Jefferson once stated, "When the people fear the government you have tyranny... when the government fears the people you have liberty." (http://www.chvanilla.net/frogquotes.html)
A totalitarian government is place that no person should ever be forced to live in because this type of government controls almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives. The dictators controlling these kinds of government’s take away people’s basic human rights, brainwash kids into showing no loyalty towards their families, and imprison or execute all who might be a remote threat to their party. The government then controls the remaining population with the fear of being arrested by secret state police regardless if they have committed, or planned to commit, a crime. The leaders of these societies have no regard for the wellbeing of anybody but themselves, and once they come to power, it is usually too late to stop what happens next.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In America’s society today, some are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties in order to gain protection and security over some potential threat. Especially after the events of September 11th and several attempted bombings in U.S. cities. This sacrifice of individual freedoms such as the freedom of speech, expression, the right to information, to new technologies, and so forth, for additional protection is more of a loss than a gain. Citizens of the United States deserve equal liberty and safety overall, as someone should not have to give up one value in order to gain another. This concept of individual right goes beyond the simple idea of “individual comfort.” Personal liberties cannot be surrendered and are not to be compromised since these liberties are intangible. Individuals should not have their personal liberties exchanged for national security because individuals are guaranteed protection to these rights.
The novel Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is about one teens’ journey to show and tell the truths about the harsh things the Department of Homeland Security, commonly referred to as the DHS, is doing and bring justice. Marcus, the main character, and his three friends, Jolu, Darryl and Van, are out playing their favorite video game, “Harajuku Fun Madness”, but when a bridge is bombed, the DHS finds the three teens on the middle of the road where they take them in for questioning and harsh punishment. The interrogator, Carrie Johnstone, believes Marcus is the terrorist in charge of bombing the bridge. Marcus tells her “We play a game together, it’s called Harajuku Fun Madness. I’m the team captain. We’re not terrorist we’re high school students”. (Cory Doctorow 61). Johnstone does not believe Marcus, creating a war between tech savvy teens and the DHS. Little Brother has many ties to the once in a lifetime and developing story of Edward Snowden. “I do not want to live in a society that does these sort of things.” (Edward Snowden, Whistle Blower). Edward Snowden used to work for the National Security Agency, or the NSA, for the United States of America for the past four years. Snowden leaked classified information to the newspaper company, The Guardian, which is arguably the most significant leak in American history. Despite releasing serious information and allegations against the United States of America, Snowden has no intentions of hiding, nor does he seem worried about the consequences that may follow. When Snowden brought the information to The Guardian, he let the newspaper use his name. When Snowden was asked why he would release his name, knowing the punishment and scrutiny that wou...
In this report I am going to talk about the rights people have to privacy and about the laws that go with privacy. Privacy is the thought that information that is confidential that is disclosed in a private place will not be available to third parties when the information would cause embarrassment or emotional distress to a person.
Privacy is one of the severe issue in today’s Modern Technology era, tied to human right around the world. Most countries have started thinking differently regarding between the people’s right and national security, and trying to leverage on new technology to detect potential national threats without hurting people’s privacy. However, there's a blurred line between privacy violation and government surveillance. (Sánchez, Levin & Del, 2012) It would be a learning process for governments to seek an optimum balance between retain integrity of privacy right and eliminate national threats in order to make the country better.
Abstract: Electronic mail is quickly becoming the most prevalent method of communication in the world. However, e-mail systems in corporate, institutional, and commercial environments are all potential targets of monitoring, surveillance and ultimately, censorship.