Essay #3 Final Draft, "The Price of Safety"

Tasmin Perry

ENGL 101-0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay 3

11/28/12

The Price of Safety

     Throughout history, the rulers of nations around the world have been depended upon by their society to provide security.  We have had cases of mass murders and attacks with no remorse and with evidence discarded of, some cases have been left open and no justice being served. But what if there was a way for these horrible crimes to be prevented before they even occurred? Would one give up many of their freedoms as an American citizen just to be protected even if that means having little or no privacy? I believe that it is morally wrong to violate citizen’s freedoms and privacy for the sake of protection.

     As witnessed in the movie Minority Report, the concerns of how to handle crime and security have left authorities to punishing criminals before they commit a crime. The pre-crime system would seem flaw proof. The psychic-like people give visions of a crime being committed and the police have are able to rush in before the murder takes place and arrest the “criminal”. This system has been proven to be inaccurate, in the scene where Tom Cruise played as Chief John Anderton, is told by the pre-cog that he has a choice to kill the man whom supposedly kidnapped and killed his son or let him live. John decides to not kill the man and instead arrest him. The man then kills himself. This particular scene was not shown by the pre-cogs as John killing the man but just the man falling to the floor. Also the finale of the movie showed a drastic turn of events. Though the death of Director Lamar Burgess did take place, again Chief Anderton did not kill him as perceived from the pre-cogs. Burgess killed himself because the truth about a murder he tried to cover up was brought to light. The system was made for the greater good but could be abolished when simple mistakes are made.

     To further express the pre-crime system being inaccurate not just because of glitches or repeats seen in the visions of the pre-cogs but using solely the bias of free will. Having free will as depicted by Michael Huemer in his article “Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report”, “Free will is thought to require two things: alternate possibilities and self control.” Alternate possibilities meaning to have more than one future or options, and self control meaning to have total control and responsibility of one’s actions. Huemer uses the example of a robot to explain having free will. A robot with a computer brain is given codes then translates them to actions; the robot does not have the choice to do something if the code has not been made. But a man does not live from codes, man acts on impulses and is able to create the outcome of the action by thinking it through. The pre-crime laws are unreliable; you cannot simply punish a person for a future crime because they still have the will to make a different choice.

     Not only could the system be morally unethical by blaming someone for a crime that they haven’t committed but it is a violation of privacy. Adhering to the happenings of September 11,2001 and also the bombing of the Pentagon, our government has taken measures to ensure protection of our country, but are doing so in way without respect for the people. For example the Stop and Frisk program that takes place here in New York. This program completely violates the rights of our Fourth Amendment, stating “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The programs allows officials to randomly stop and search citizens through suspicions and solely how they look without any evidence, warrants or reasoning behind the search. This system was created to protect society but when officials go about it in a forceful and violating way it becomes unreasonable. Living in a country supposedly built on having many freedoms we are now forcibly subjected to be “watched” and spied on by the government again with no leads or warrants issued. As explained in Lisa Graves article, “The Right to Privacy In Light of Presidents’ Programs: What Projects MINARET’s Admissions Reveal about Modern Surveillance of Americans”, Graves depicts the effects of the governments surveillance. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA was put in place to allow the government unlimited power to conduct warrantless searches of Americans' communications in the name of national security, during Nixon’s presidency. Though it is vital for the government to issue safety to their citizens, ones privacy and peace of mind should not be subjected to violation.

    Therefore, if society is able eliminate or drastically reduce crime, terrorism and other threats with keeping in consideration the regards of ethics and morals of the people using accurate systems which will not be missed used or give unreliable conclusions, also considering free will and not punishing until proven guilty and lastly not violating the rights of privacy and freedom then it is only right in exercising that system.

 

Works Cited

Minority Report. Dir. Steven Speilberg. Perf. Tom Cruise. 2002.

"Free Will and Determination". Science Fiction and Philosophy. Ed. Susan Schneider. Oxford: Blackwell, 2009. 103-112. Print.

Graves, Lisa. "The Right To Privacy In Light Of Presidents' Programs: What Project MINARET's Admissions Reveal About Modern Surveillance Of Americans." Texas Law Review 88.7 (2010): 1855-1904. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

Blog #7: The Allegory of The Cave through History

As children it has been instilled in many young girls and boy’s minds that they can be anything they want when they grow up. From a child’s point of view little boys always believe that they are somehow better than girls, faster, stronger, and smarter. Boys grow up to carry this negative trait which can lead them to a life of believing men are more dominant than women. A situation from human history which has been an on going illusion is men being inferior to women.  It has been represented in countless amounts of situations, for example in the home. It is expected of the female to clean, cook and tend to the children while the husband is out at work. Women have struggled with the stigma of not being able to be anything more than a mother and housewife. This has been happening throughout history and around the world of women’s struggles every day to prove that they can be just as good, or even better at doing a “man’s job”. Another example would be seen in the work place. Gender differences can impact ones salary. No matter a how hard a female tries, if there is a male who is doing just as good as her or maybe even not as well, it’s hard for women to get the recognition they deserve. It is slowly being proven that women can indeed succeed without any restrictions; there are female business owners, CEO’s and presidents of very prestigious companies. Also women are able to run a single family home, while working and insuring her children are taken care of. As stated in Ashley Crossman’s article about the Feminist theory, “Feminist theory is most concerned with giving a voice to women and highlighting the various ways women have contributed to society.” (source: http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Feminist-Theory.htm)

Blog #6 Free Will and Destiny in Oedipus The King

In Oedipus The King, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his own downfall. Oedipus is presented with a series of choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to impulsively make the wrong decisions, the decisions that ultimately lead him to his demise. In the scene in which Oedipus meets Lauis at the crossroad, he made a decision to kill a man because he was in such a rush to flee the town to prevent killing his father as the oracle said he would do. Though Oedipus didn't know Lauis was his father he still made a decision to commit a crime.  When Oedipus arrives at Thebes, he is presented with yet another choice: to become the king and to wed the queen, or to move on. Once again, Oedipus' choice puts him one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy. Oedipus is not forced into marrying Jocasta, this is simply his decision. Fate is not responsible. Another example is Oedipus refused to stop looking for the truth about his parents even when Jocasta, his wife, told him to. “Stop in the name of god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is enough. Listen to me”. Oedipus replied, “Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, I must see the truth at last” These quotes also prove free will by Oedipus because Jocasta doesn’t want him to know about his past but he insists and doesn't listen to her. If had chosen to listen to her, he would have never found out the truth about his past.

Blog #5 Essay #1 Final Draft

Tasmin Perry

ENGL 101-0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay #1

10/3/12

The Costs of Living

     We all dream of a life based on a Utopian society. We hope that our lives will exceed limits and our children will be perfect. But what length would a person go to ensure this perfect life? The people in the movie Gattaca are living in a dream world. As parents they are able to choose their child’s destiny before they are even born. Scientists are trying to play the roles of God by trying to eliminate all natural health problems. It comes to my attention that in this world generally you’ll know how your life will turn out just by the make-up of your DNA. It is not fair that if someone wasn’t genetically engineered to be perfect their success rate would be low and they would lose hope to pursue their dreams. Genetically engineering ones child is unnatural and not flaw proof, I feel the world presented in Gattaca is a portrayed as a Dystopia.

     Though it may seem possible for a person to see the Gattaca society as a Utopia, due to environmental polices like electronic transportation, as a result there is far less pollution which slows down the process of global warming. Also due to advancement in technology there are fewer illnesses so people don’t have to be concerned of dying from diseases because they are prevented. Also the people of this society are far more advanced and are able to take daily trips to outer space. However to support my position of Gattaca being portrayed as a dystopian society I would like to bring up three key points to help my argument. To start with any parent granted the opportunity ensure their child a good life would accept it at all costs. Especially if you could choose their fate before they were born. But what if you are in the position where you cannot afford to pay for the process of having your child genetically engineered, or if the child was not planned. The child would grow to be weak and not have as many aspirations as a child that was made to succeed. They would constantly struggle with the stigma of not being good enough.

     If majority of the people in the society are perfect, no one would find the need to work hard. There wouldn’t be any struggle or hard bridges to cross if everything was basically handed to you. From firsthand experience and throughout history I have noticed that a person who has endured a great deal of struggle puts forth a large amount of effort to get out of the current situation they are in. It also builds character to not be able to take things for granted.                  Lastly, as seen in the movie Gattaca, Jerome Marrow who was born genetically engineered himself, was destined to prosper. He was once a swimming star who always came in first place. When suddenly during one of his meets he came in second place. This brought him to trying to commit suicide, which he failed to do and became disabled. This demonstrates how much pressure one could feel living in this society of such high competition to always be better. In the movie it is portrayed that with the help of science, society would lead a flawless and healthy life. We saw that though Irene was genetically engineered she still she was able to have a heart disease. This shows that science is not always perfect and naturally things can go wrong.

     In the essay, The Man on the Moon, written by George J. Annas. He depicts the ways humans have tried to perfect the human race. Annas writes: “We have a tendency simply to let science take us where it will. But science has no will and human judgment is almost always necessary for any successful exploration of the unknown.” Scientists can try their best to perfect humans but going back to the fact that not all things done in the name of science goes as planned, things just go wrong. In conclusion it is important to think of the future as something we can improve but not as block of molding clay to make what society sees as the “perfect human beings”. 

Blog #4 Essay #1 Complete Draft

Tasmin Perry

ENGL 101-0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay #1

10/3/12

The Costs of Living

     We all dream of a life based on a Utopian society. We hope that our lives will exceed limits and our children will be perfect. But what length would a person go to ensure this perfect life? I feel the people in the movie Gattaca are living in a dream world. For a parent to be able to choose their child’s destiny before they are even born seems like scientists are trying to play the role of God in my opinion. It comes to my attention that in this world generally you’ll know how your life would turn out just by the make-up of your DNA. It is not fair that if someone wasn’t genetically engineered to be perfect their success rate would be low and they would lose hope to pursue their dreams. So taking into consideration how much I am against genetically engineering ones child, I feel the world presented in Gattaca is a portrayed as a Dystopia.

 Now I do see how it is possible for a person to see the Gattaca society as a Utopia. Due to environmental polices like electronic transportation as a result there is far less pollution which slows down the process of global warming. Also due to advancement in technology there are no illnesses so people don’t have to be concerned of dying from diseases because they are prevented. Also they are far more advanced and are able to take daily trips to outer space.

However to support my position of Gattaca being portrayed as a dystopian society I would like to bring up three key points to help my argument. To start with any parent granted the opportunity ensure their child a good life would accept it at all costs. Especially if you could choose their fate before they were born. But what if you are in the position where you cannot afford to pay for the process of having your child genetically engineered, or if the child was not planned. The child would grow to be weak and not have as many aspirations as a child that was made to succeed. They would constantly struggle with the stigma of not being good enough. 

     My next point would be if majority of the people in the society are perfect, No one would find the need to work hard. There wouldn’t be any struggle or hard bridges to cross if everything was basically handed to you. From firsthand experience and throughout history I have noticed that a person who has endured a great deal of struggle puts forth a large amount of effort to get out of the current situation they are in. It also builds character to not be able to take things for granted. Lastly, as seen in the movie Jerome Marrow who was born genetically engineered himself, was destined to prosper. He was once a swimming star who always came in first place. When suddenly during one of his meets he came in second place. Bringing him to try to commit suicide, he failed and became disabled. I feel this shows how much pressure one could feel living in this society of such high competition to always be better. In the movie it is portrayed that with the help of science society would lead a flawless and healthy life. We saw that though Irene was genetically engineered and she still she was able to have a heart disease. Though the crime rate seemed low the mission director of Gattaca killed a man. This shows that science is not always perfect and naturally things can go wrong. 

Blog #3 Essay #1 Early Draft

Tasmin Perry

ENGL 101-0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay #1

10/3/12

The Costs of Living

     We all dream of a life based on a Utopian society. We hope that our lives will exceed limits and our children will be perfect. But what length would a person go to ensure this perfect life? I feel the people in the movie Gattaca are living in a dream world. For a parent to be able to choose their child’s destiny before they are even born seems ungodly in my opinion. It comes to my attention that in this world overall you’ll know how your life would turn out just by the make-up of your DNA. It is not fair that if someone wasn’t genetically engineered to be perfect their success rate would be very low and they would lose hope to pursue their dreams. So taking into consideration how much I am against genetically engineering ones child, I feel the world presented in Gattaca is a portrayed as Dystopia.

To support my position I would like to bring up three key points to help my argument. To any parent it would seem the greatest advantage to ensure your child a good life. Especially if you can choose their fate before they are born. But what if you are in the position where you cannot afford to pay for the process of having your child genetically engineered, or if the child was not planned. The child would grow to be weak and not have as many aspirations as a child that was made to succeed. They would constantly struggle with the stigma of not being good enough.  

My next point would be if majority of people in the society are perfect, No one would find the need to work hard. There wouldn’t be any struggle or hard bridges to cross if everything was basically handled to you. From firsthand experience and throughout history I have noticed that a person who has a story behind why they work so hard always seem to succeed the most. It also build character to not be able to take things for granted. 

My question is, what do you think about my thesis statement? do you feel I could add or take away anything?