Post 6

This week I finished my second book of the quarter, George Orwell's 1984. As I read on into this novel, I became more and more amazed. The novel, unlike many I have read, does not end in a way I could or did predict./*spoilers*/ Winston's rebellion against Big Brother is the main conflict of the novel. His initial rebellion, the thought "Down With Big Brother" is so small in today's terms, it serves to show the real depth of oppression in Winston's society since this something as small as a thought could not and is not controlled by any modern regime. This rebellion builds throughout the novel, moving from thoughts to actions such as buying a book from a black market, then to falling in love(an emotion heavily regulated by big brother). Eventually Winston and his lover, Julia, join what they believe to be the rebellious organization known only as "The Brotherhood". However, they discover it to be only one more crime deterring instrument of big brother and they are captured. Winston is brought to the Ministry of love, who's sole purpose is torture and punishment, and in a stunning 50 page series of events containing possibly the most philosophy and meta physical reasoning I have ever encountered in a novel, is completely obedient to big brother. The book ends with Winston sitting in a coffee shop and, upon hearing some fabricated peace of news about a presumably made up government military victory, breaks down weeping with happiness, managing only the words "I love big brother."

Post 5

This week I started reading George Orwell's 1949 dystopian future novel "1984". The novel is set, obviously, in the year 1984 and follows the life of a Winston Smith as he copes with the realities of living under an oppressive regime. Although i have not yet much of the novel, I am certainly already impressed with Orwell's absolute mastery of the English language, coupled with some fairly deep and interesting philosophical ideas. The three part slogan of "the party", the ruling authority in Winston's Society, is as follows; "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength". Although this has not been delved very far into yet, a very in depth explanation for these ruling principles has been hinted at several times by the protagonist Winston. Also, Winston himself is actually a fairly 3 dimensional character, who struggles to accept the party's principles while knowing them to be false. In addition to this, Winston's job is, in essence, to help spread the lies of the party by constantly re-writing past publications so as to fix any possible false predictions the party may have made, creating a seemingly perfect government which in reality is radically oppressive. In conclusion, it is the combination of George Orwell's brilliantly descriptive and well developed writing style with his intensely thought provoking philosophical and meta physical theory that has lead to what I believe may be one of the best, if not the best, book's I have ever read.

Monday Sirs HW post

Vierra, Edwin. "Gun Rights on Trial" New American 1 Sep 2008: 10-15. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source . Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008
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Vierra is an attorney specializing in constitutional law, who has tried and won three cases against the supreme court, making him an excellent source of knowledge on this topic. In this article, Vierra discusses the ethics of the supreme courts decision to strike down the Washington DC gun restriction legislation, one of the most blatantly oppressive bills of its kind. The legislation literally mandates that any civilian owned handguns, when not in use for self defense, must be put away disassembled, unloaded, and trigger locked; a measure taken to ensure the guns were used in no situation other than an emergency. This law, says Vierra, is destructive not only because it makes guns unreasonably hard to use in an emergency situation, but also is not capable of solving the harm which it seeks to address, namely that firearms wont be used in non emergency situations. Unfortunately, Vierra notes that the decision was in fact, not harsh enough in striking down gun restrictions as it only deems the portion of the law that bans civilian ownership of assembled handguns unconstitutional, not the portion banning other types of semi automatic and higher powered firearms.

Staff Writers. "Gun Control Advocates Criticize the New Bush Rule" Political Affairs Online. 12 Aug 2008. Political Affairs. 6 Dec 2008 .

Political Affairs is a news organization dealing specifically with political news, reporting primarily on government action and election. The article, written by Political Affairs staff writers, is about a last minute piece of gun rights legislation passed by the bush administration which allows gun owners to carry concealed firearms on all national parks. A perspective on this type of legislation offers a new part of gun control to look at since it is less in the public focus than most gun control legislation. Although it certainly guarantees less gun rights than say, the Florida castle law, this article shows us that there is still a heated debate occurring over it, quoting several prominent anti gun lobbyists who are in fact enraged at what they see as an intrusion of violence into national parks. The article also gives the opinion on pro gun lobbyists, who argue that any increase in concealed carrying of firearms will inevitably reduce crime and promote for a self defending society, an effect which ethically must always be considered before any downside.

Post 4

This week, having finished America Alone, I chose to read critically acclaimed author Ayn Rand's novella Anthem. Anthem is almost a literary manifesto of sorts, a very pure, refined portrayal of Rand's views on the world. Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism is basically a beleif that government should serve to protect the inherent individuality of human beings, and not as it does today encroach upon individual rights daily, justifying by saying it is "for the greater good". Anthem is about a distopian, the opposite of utopian, future in which the inherent vices contained within socialism have led to a complete lack of individual action. All commerce, all "innovation", all thought even is completely controlled for the government. This novella shows the evils of socialism by making the reader gasp in horror at future which has no poverty. In summary, Rand and other believers in objectivism would argue that when self interest ceases to govern a man, he has lost all that makes him human.
I very much enjoyed reading this novella (called so for having a length of only 56 pages) because it states and expresses what is essentially my ideology much better than I currently can. Anthem is, in addition to being ideologically congruent with myself, quite well written. Due to the obliteration of the individual, the main character has no name, and despite this is incredibly well developed by the end of the story. Thats all for this week. -Boone