Jason Oswald's English Portfolio
My projects I am doing alongside my teacher
6 Word Memoir
Never stop gaining your positive momentum.
Only the weak ever stop trying.
You can still learn new things.
10 Rules for my Dystopian Sociecty
- Education is punishable by death.
- Religion is punishable by death.
- Weapons are punishable by death.
- Reproduction without the government's consent is punishable by death.
- All forms of communication other than vocal is punishable by death.
- Books are punishable by death.
- Noncompliance to all government orders is punishable by death.
- Not wearing the state sponsored uniform is punishable by death.
- All criminal actions are punishable by death.
- Attempting to escape is punishable by death.
Ideals of Freedom
Living in the United States of America, I have many "freedoms" that other people in other countries do not have. These are as simple as owning weapons and as complex as voting and becoming a part of the political system. Other people in the world have no idea what it is like to own these "freedoms" but are they really freedoms? Ever since the advent of someone controlling someone else, someone always wanted "freedom." From the slave galleys of the Barbary Coast to the factories in China, people have wanted more. When men were enslaved on the galleys, Rome prospered and became a great nation. And while child workers are stuck in factories for half the day in China, their country prospers and dominates the world markets. Both peoples want the freedom from work, but is that a freedom? To live one must work, and for a person to thrive, one must be taken advantage of. If everyone had the same freedoms, we would be thrown back into a feudal like system, where no one owns anything and there are no lords to control the peasants. It would be like before the advent of civilization, people sparsely scattered across the landscape attempting just to live on their own. As we see in 1984, when everyone is the same, everyone suffers.
Author Study
George Orwell's real name was Eric Blair. Eric Blair had a hatred towards fascism and a major supporter of Democratic Socialism. Democratic Socialism is based on the ideas of production being collectively owned but the government was still democratically run. Blair was born in the British East Indies and had a toothbrush mustache for a little bit (But was quickly gotten rid of after Hitler arose). Eric Blair served on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil war out of his pure hatred of the fascist nationalists. The Republican side was made up of socialists supported by Soviet Russia while the Nationalists were fascists and supported by Nazi Germany. His wife worked at the Ministry of information during WW2 censoring media. This probably gave rise to his idea of the Ministry of Truth in 1984. Eric Blair had bad lungs, and was kept out of service during WW2 but was allowed to work with the BBC's Eastern Service (India). Although it turned out very few people actually listened to his propaganda he spat out to counter Germany's propaganda. Blair received the Prometheus Award in 1984 (Post Humorously) for his contribution to the dystopian genre.
Are we heading towards a dystopian society?
There are two alternatives to our future dystopian society, either technology reverses or speeds ahead. Like in Anthem, we could become an ancient world if groups like ISIS are able to spread in third world countries. They could easily revert us back to the stone age if they wanted to, all they need are a few people with planes or cars willing to commit mass murder and destroy symbols of technology. Then after technology and communications fail, we could be forced under their belief system and taught to never speak out. On the other side, we could advance so far into the future with technologies, that companies are able to exert dominance over the populous. If we allow for privatized space travel, wouldn't the companies be able to hold us hostage on mars and force us to abide by their rules? Thus making a slave race of people who must work and obey the company or lose their job and not be able to eat or escape.