Breaking Monarchy Tradition

Recently in the summer of 2018, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, married Meghan Markle, a mixed American. This event changed the history of marriage in the British Monarchy. Normally for marriages to occur in the British Monarchy, whoever is getting married has to be very pure to get married. Meaning they marry people of the same race, religion, and status. 

Prince Harry met Meghan on a blind date and instantly was attracted to her. As time went on, their relationship grew, causing them to become engaged and this was the biggest break in tradition to ever happen in the British Monarchy. They only dated for a little over a year before getting engaged and people found many problems with this engagement. First off, Meghan Markle is divorced which is breaking huge tradition in the monarchy. It is a tradition for people in the monarchy to marry people who are "pure" and have never been divorced. So this was the first big no, no to happen. Next, Meghan is also mixed. She is half-black and half-white. This is also breaking tradition because usually the monarchy only marries people of the same race as them. Another thing is that she is American. Everyone born into the monarchy is British and typically they marry people who are also British. Since Meghan is American, this adds on the list of things that are being broken with their marriage. Another thing to add on is that Meghan was also an actor. Typically actors are very outspoken about their opinions and the monarchy can't really do that. They aren't allowed to talk about politics that much because it could leave a bad rep for them. 

Now you might be asking, why in the world is this important? Well first off the monarchy is known for having structure and a put-in-place set of rules that stay. They don't tend to stray away from what the norm is. Everyone in the family has followed the rules for years. But this is important because of the rebellion it shows. It's a very good story of how no matter how much you love a person, nothing can stop you. Even with all these basic traditions set in place, Prince Harry really loved her and nothing was going to stop him. This changes many things for other people too. Seeing Prince Harry do this and make this gigantic move to break all these rules, might start changing the minds of others in the family. They might start thinking they have more freedom. If Prince Harry can break tradition, why can't they? Especially for the younger generation of the Royal Family. They will grow up thinking that it's okay to break tradition if Prince Harry did it. Another reason why this is so huge is that the Queen has to give the blessing for the two to get married. She is the one that says it is okay, and for her to break tradition and allow them to do it shows that maybe they're more lenient than we think. 

There's a lot more to it than just a marriage, there's also completely changing history. 

Ian Ransonet

1984 - George Orwell

I read this novel back in my senior year of high school so my memory of it is very vague but I remember 1984 by George Orwell being an amazing book. I believe if you go look online for most popular British books this novel is still one of the most popular.

This novel is about a society that completely lives under the rule of the government. The government says what they can and can't do, how they can speak or can speak. The government created a new way of talking that they called "Newspeak" and what it essentially did is removed any words from their language that was anywhere near related to the topic of talking bad about the government. So basically any words that were used to say anything bad about the government was taken out of the language. The government wants the citizens to live life exactly how they say and no other way. They put up cameras all over their country (which is Oceania). They have televised screens that constantly say the words "Big Brother is watching you". This basically means that they are constantly being monitored and they should watch what they say or do or the government will take them in and punish them. 

But what's interesting about this novel is how George Orwell wrote it. The novel was first published in 1934 and the book is called 1984. The entire concept of the novel is saying that this is what George Orwell thinks the future is going to be like in 50 years. The government has full control of everything and they are constantly watching and monitoring every movement you make. Sexual desires are suppressed and sexual intercourse is solely for the purpose of procreation and not to just have fun. The government suppresses their memories by brainwashing some of the people. Political ideas and opinions are completely suppressed and no form of an opinion is allowed by anyone lower than the government. They all have to do exactly as the government says or consequences will happen.

This novel took the world by storm ever since its release. I'm not a fan of reading, I'm going to be honest, but I really did enjoy this novel. My class would have Socratic seminars and there are so many topics you can explore in this novel. Psychology, power, religion, identity, government, and many more. There are many different ways to interpret this novel and I think that it's a great novel to read for modern British literature. This novel is still one of the best selling novels to this day and it was released almost 100 years ago which is crazy to think about. There was even an entire TV show about it called Big Brother where people live in a house for 3 months straight being watched by cameras the entire time. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is old enough to understand the language in the novel, which isn't that complex. Orwell did a fantastic job in this novel and it should be explored by all students so they can understand the idea of seeing things from different perspectives.

Ian Ransonet

Queen

Queen was a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. Their band consisted of lead singer, Freddie Mercury, lead guitar, Brian May, lead drummer Roger Taylor, and lead bass guitar, John Deacon. They have made such a huge wave of influence over the years and every since they formed they have been one of the most popular if not the most popular rock band to ever exist. I can guarantee almost everyone that’s American knows at least one of their songs. They have made so many iconic songs that are used in so many movies and videos.

Their most popular song “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the strangest songs that has ever gotten popular. If you listen to it, it sounds like something that would be in a play or something like that. It has a very unusual structure compared to most songs that are similar to it, yet it still latched on to the minds of millions. It is such a popular song that there was a movie made entirely about it. To this day millions of people still listen to it monthly and the song was released over 30 years ago. Queen was such an influence in the rock scene to so many people and they are one of the main reasons why bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers exist. They are the ones who brought rock music to life with their music.

Since they were formed in London they have impacted British culture a tremendous amount. Their music is widely known all over the world but especially in the U.K. Even though Queen to this day is one of the most popular rock bands in the United States they’ve made waves all over the United States. Their music has impacted the lives of many and I know one of my friends was influenced by them heavily. When he was 11 he decided he wanted to form a band with his friends and he is currently still in the band, 8 years later. He is also one of the best guitar players I have ever seen in my life and I know there are many other people in the world who have the same story as him. Even though his band isn’t super popular they still have gigs locally and in other states a lot too. He makes good money and all of this was because of Queen and their music.

Freddie Mercury died in the 90s, but all the other band members are still alive. They are technically still together but John Deacon retired so the only two left that are part of the band are Brian May and Roger Taylor. They still go around replaying some of their songs, but Queen will go down as one of the best bands to ever exist. Their presence in the music industry is unbeatable and their songs to this day still inspire people. I know any time I hear “We Are the Champions” it gives me a good feeling and I know other people feel the same way too.

Ian Ransonet

The Queen

The British monarchy is the most iconic monarchy in the world. This monarchy began during in the early 1000's.  Back then the monarchy had power. In modern times the monarchy is really more of a face of the country. The current figure head, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest ruling monarch in British history. Personally, I love the Queen. Even though she is more of a figurehead of the the United Kingdom. I would never want to live under a Monarchy because I like the freedom I have in the United States. But, I think the history behind the monarchy is extremely cool. In fact the Queen Elizabeth II was not a close prospect for the throne. She did not grow up in the spot light like her son Charles and his family has. It was not until her uncle relinquished his right to the throne that she became a prospect. This is when Queen Elizabeth II's father, King George VI, took the throne. At the time Queen Elizabeth II was only twenty five when she took the throne. Which I personally think is crazy because I am not too far from twenty five and there is no way I could rule a country right now. I can barely decide what I want to eat for dinner much less make decisions that affect a whole country. She does not only rule England but sixteen Commonwealth Realms. Like honestly girl power.  The Queen has been on the throne for sixty five years this year. She surpassed the previous longest holder Queen Victoria who sat on the throne for sixty three years. One thing I really love about the Queen is her clothes. Queen Elizabeth II is always dressed in bright colored suits, lots of pearls, and avant-garde hats. I think she wears such bright colors to make her stand out among the other Royals. I mean she is the Queen she should stand out. Whoever is her stylist has to put a lot of effort into picked the hats because the color always match her outfit perfectly. I read somewhere a few months ago that a trick the Queen swears by is having weights sewn into all of her clothes so they do not fly up when there is a breeze. Which I think that is actually really smart. She is stopping any Royal mishap from happening. Another thing I really love about her style is her jewels. The Queen owns all the the historic collections of jewels. I love all the crowns, and necklaces she has. I think that it is really neat that Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen's granddaughter-in-law has been photographed wearing some the Queen's iconic jewelry. I think it shows that the Queen accepts her in the family. I mean I would not just share the Royal Crown Jewels with anyone. I think that not only the monarchy has impacted the world but Queen Elizabeth II has left her impact. She has ruled her country for over sixty years and I think she has done a great job. You know what they say, "All Hail the Queen!"

-Savanna

My Thoughts on "Hated in the Nation" - Black Mirror

Recently in class we watched an episode of Black Mirror. The show is about how technology can take over the world essentially. The episode "Hated in the Nation", begins with a journalist. This journalist had recently written about people with disabilities and how they shouldn’t have certain rights or something of the sort. Because of the terrible and hateful article that she wrote, many people in the city began bashing her and giving her hate messages because of how terrible the things she said were. Someone even sent her a cake with the words “Fucking Bitch” written on it. The journalist returned home one night from work and while walking back to her house, people on the streets were chanting at her and calling her things like “whore” and “slut”. She gets home and opens up her laptop to go on twitter and sees countless mentions of people tagging her with a hashtag that says “#DeathTo”. People would use that hashtag and then tag her after and it started trending. The same night, police were called to her house because she had committed suicide. The husband of the journalist had walked in to go talk to her, but she was clawing at her own throat, ripping her skin apart. The husband tried to stop her, but she resisted and even stabbed her husband in the torso. She then slit her own throat, and everyone was confused as to why she did that.

Investigators started looking into the situation and thought that she did it because of all the hate she was getting but then found out that it actually had to do with the hashtag about her posted on social media. They had found a bot account on social media that posted a video saying every day someone would die, and it would always be whoever had the hashtag put with their name the most. The journalist had the most hashtags that day and because of it she died. You might be wondering how did someone kill her if she committed suicide? Currently in the time period in this episode, technology is very advanced and there was a company who created these electronic bees to go and pollenate the country. As it turns out, the security system was not good enough and one man found out how to hack the bees. Whenever the end of the day would come, and it was time for someone to die, the man would hack the nearest bee to that person and send it into their brain. The bee would dig a whole in the brain, causing the person to have seizure-like attacks and die on the spot. Eventually hundreds of thousands of people ended up dying and it leaves the viewers with the question, is it worth advancing technology that far in the future? I personally don’t think that it’s ever possible for something that crazy to happen. I think that humans are smart enough and have the morals to prevent a tragic event from something like that happening. I don’t ever think we will ever be able to make electronic bees that serve the same purpose as bees but if it ever does happen it will be very far in the future.

Ian Ransonet

The Youtube War

Currently, YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for finding videos of pretty much anything you want to see. Since December 23, 2013, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, or "PewDiePie" has been the most subscribed to channel. This basically means that a bunch of people just clicked a button and it notifies them when he posts a video. YouTube was created in 2005 and since December of 2013, Felix has held the lead. His videos consist of a variety of different genres and topics. He plays video games and commentates over them, he makes music (kind of), he hosts charity events and many other things. It's probably why his audience is so big on the platform. Felix currently has 74.5 million people subscribed to him. And he's been holding the lead for a long time. 

Let me tell you a little bit about Felix because his audience is so big and it's important to know what type of ideas and thoughts he's putting into people's minds. Felix was born in October of 1989 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is currently residing in Brighton, England with his fiancee. He is a very comical person with good intentions and is always trying to help the community. Over the years he has raised millions of dollars for all kinds of different charities so he is a good influence to all the people he's reaching out to. Now since he has been the most subscribed to YouTube channel since 2013, and YouTube has only been out since 2005 it's been a pretty big deal. People have called him the "King" of YouTube because nobody has come close to 74 million subscribers until about 3 months ago. 

T-Series is an Indian music record label and film production company. They are mainly known for Bollywood type stuff. Recently the citizens of India have started getting internet in their hometown. Because of this a lot of the population goes on the internet a lot because it's not something they're used to having. YouTube is a big platform for them because you can find pretty much anything on there so a lot of the citizens go on YouTube. T-Series owns a YouTube channel called "T-Series" where they post Indian music videos and Bollywood movie trailers and many different things like that. Because of their content, and the population they are reaching out to, many Indian citizens began subscribing to T-Series because they are the first ones to release the music videos and movie trailers. So if people are subscribed to T-Series, they will get notified when a new video is uploaded. India currently has a population of 1.3 billion people. That is a GIANT number. As time goes on more and more the population is gaining internet, which means subscribing to T-Series. And as of about 3 months ago, T-Series has been right behind Felix in subscriber count and since then it has been a huge deal. T-Series currently has 74.3 million subscribers and they are gaining subscribers extremely fast. Having such a large population means more people are going to subscribe to them than any other channel from another country. 

T-Series will eventually pass up Felix, there is no doubt about it. Felix has impacted so many lives and has been such a good influence. That's why it's such a big deal because everyone thinks that he deserves it the most. There have been people all over the world trying to tell the public to go subscribe to Felix so he can remain on top. Some even hacked printers all over the country and printed out papers at people’s companies telling them to subscribe to him. It’s become a running joke for many people and people are talking about it all over the world because of how big the two channels are. 74 million people is a lot and whenever there are two channels with that large of a subscriber count, there are a lot of people involved in this process. It’s not just Felix vs a music label. It’s all their followers vs. each other too. It really doesn’t matter who has more subscribers it really is just a number but it’s a good metaphor for showing who’s put in so much time into this. While Felix is an individual person and T-Series is an entire music label, Felix will still be recognized as the most subscribed to individual, but people don’t want him to lose his spot. His fans and many other people who aren’t even following him are supporting him and you should do your part too by subscribing to Felix.

Ian Ransonet

The Office

I know in an earlier post I talked about not liking television. Which is funny because the only other show I really watch is The Office. I am obsessed with this show. I really love this show because of the simple and stupid humor. The Office originally was created in the United Kingdom. There is an American version and I prefer the American version over the British one. Since I have binge watched the American version of The Office multiple times I decided maybe I should try and watch the UK version.There is only two seasons of the UK version unlike the American version that has nine seasons. I thought I could knock the UK version in a weekend. I was so wrong. I could barely get past the first episode. I figured I would like the UK version because both of the versions have the same producers. The story lines of the show are very similar, but with different character names.I think one of the main reasons I do not like the UK version is because the humor is different. I think this is because of the difference of culture. A culture is defined by the people and their surroundings. I think this is why the humor is different in the two versions. I personally do not find the UK version funny at all. In the US version of The Office my favorite character is Michael Scott the Regional Manager is Dunder Mifflin. Steve Carell is the perfect actor to play Michael Scott. His character in the show has a mean sense of humor, he is very self-centered but somehow charming. I think that because he is charming Michael always redeems himself and he comes off not so much as a jerk. From the episode I watched in the UK version the Regional Manager, David Brent is just flat out mean. I do not find him charming and maybe that is why I do not find his jokes as funny. I think that the UK version has a more crude sense of humor. I really think that the reason that the humor is different is just because of the difference in culture. I personally find that the humor on the American version is more everyday humor. I might have a bias because I originally watched the American version so that is why I like it more. It is also directed at the culture I grew up in so I relate to the humor more.I think that other people agree with me on the American version being better because it lasted seven more seasons than the UK version did. I think that one thing that brings more humor into the American version is that a lot of the scenes were improv. Which is awesome because the actors reactions are real. So if you like day to day humor and office pranks I highly recommend watching the American version of The Office. BRB going to restart The Office again!! 

-Savanna

GBBO

I am not a huge fan of watching television. I just find most shows to be boring. One show I really enjoy though is The Great British Bake Off! Growing up I was that weird kid who enjoyed watching the Food Network. I think I like food shows because I really love to cook and bake. The show is based out of England and is filmed in Welford Park and the bakers bake in a huge tent. The twelve bakers compete in three baking challenges per show. After the final challenge someone is eliminated.  The three baking challenges are the signature, the technical, and the show stopper. In the signature challenges the bakers can show of their personal style. So the judges, Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry (who is now off the show), and Prue Leith give the bakers a dish to bake and a time limit to do the challenge in. The bakers then create and bake their own dish by using their personal "signature" flavors. Once the bakers are finished the judges walk around to each station judging each baker's signature dish. The next challenge is the technical. In the technical the judges pick a dish they want the bakers to use with very minimal instructions and little to no recipes.  This challenge is judged blindly so the judges have to leave the tent. With little to no instructions you can really see the skills of the baker. When the bakers are finished they have to place their bakes on a table behind their pictures that way the judges do not know who baked each one. The judges then blindly judge each dish. I like this aspect of the show because the judges can not go off of favoritism due to the fact they have no clue who baked what. Finally the last challenge is the show stopper. The show stopper is the final and hardest challenge. In this final challenge the bakers have combine skills, talents, and creativity to create a good bake. Like the signature challenge the bakers are allowed to pick their own flavors for a dessert that the judges pick. In the show stopper the judges expect excellent flavors, an excellent bake, along with a professional appearance. At the end of the bakers are asked to bring their bake forward to be judged. After judging and deliberation the judges announce the Star Baker, and the person leaving the show. The Star Baker is the baker who stood out the most to the judges. Each week a person is eliminated until the bakers get to the finale when there are three bakers going for the title of The Great British Bake Off  winner. On the episode of the finale the judges invite all the past contestants, and all the current baker's friends and families.  I think this baking show is so much different than American cooking or baking shows. In the Great British Bake Off everyone is competing against each other, but it is not cut throat. Competitors are more than willing to help each other out when needed. It is a very friendly competition. Bakers can be seen hugging and crying with each other when one leaves because they have made friends with each other. When a baker gets Star Baker the other bakers genuinely congratulate the winner. In American baking shows it is almost like every other competitor is out to get each other. There is a huge rivalry among the competitors and no one is going to help each other out. I think that the difference in attitudes on the show has to do with each country's culture. America thinks they are the best therefore their citizens act that way. My absolute favorite thing about the show that sets it apart from any other baking show is the bakers can bring their ingredients. In both the signature challenge and the show stopper challenge the bakers can bring everything they want and need to create their bake. Many bakers bring items from their personal gardens which I love because it really allows the bakers to personalize their dishes. I think it also allows people to see the baker's style and flavor palette outside of the tent. I love the personalization of The Great British Bake Off. I think that show was designed with the bakers in mind. These bakers come to bake because they truly love to bake. There is no large sum of money for the winner, just flowers and a cake stand.  Now excuse me while I go binge watch the new Christmas episodes.

-Savanna

Random Thoughts on Bristish Food

Being from Louisiana I really love food! I think that a big part of culture is the food you eat. Food is more than just eating, it says a lot about a person and their surroundings. I think that most British food is normal, but I also think they have some questionable choices. So this is my thoughts on random British food. (Disclaimer!! I have not tried most of this food. Most of these reviews are based simply off of how the food looks and the name of the food) First off beans on toast... Who in the world thinks of putting beans on toast?! Not only does it look disgusting it also sounds disgusting!!!! They even make cheese and beans on toast and ketchup and beans on toast. Sorry to be rude but that sounds absolutely repulsive. Next up is mushy peas... Honestly anything that has mushy in the name sounds gross! What I want to know is are the peas similar to mashed potatoes? Why not just eat peas how they come? It sounds like food a baby would eat. When I hear black pudding I think of dark chocolate pudding! UM WRONG! Black pudding looks like a link of sausage. It is actually onions, oatmeal, pork fat and blood all in a casing. I love rare steak but thinking of mixing blood and oatmeal is disturbing. It just sounds so unappetizing. Next is a food called haggis. Haggis kind of looks like a loaf of boudin. But like off brand boudin. One food item I want to try is Yorkshire pudding. This pudding is not really a pudding at all it is like a rich dinner roll. I think I can eat my own weight in dinner rolls so I am really interested in these. One British food I actually grew up on Shepard's pie. I love the combination of the potatoes, meat, and vegetables! The only thing that was different from the British version is that my parents always topped the potatoes with cheese! It added extra flavor! Okay... a proper Sunday roast... WOW I am kinda sad I have not had this as a meal.  A proper Sunday  roast comes with roasted beef or lamb, roasted potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. This literally sounds SO amazing!! One food I am a little confused on is a mince pie or "mincemeat" when it has nothing to do with meat. So I am confused because when I think meat pie I think of a Natchitoches meat pie. But this mince pie is a mini pie filled with dried fruit and spices and it usually a dessert served around Christmas. Honestly I would not mind trying it. Finally the last thing I want to bring attention to is England's choice of chip flavors. Walkers which is the same company as Lays in the United Kingdom, has a prawn cocktail flavor... Prawns and shrimp are very similar and I can not imagine the taste of eating a shrimp chip! They also have flavors such as pickled onion, beef and onion, and tomato ketchup. I know there is a difference in culture but all of those flavors sound disgusting. I think I will stick to my VooDoo Zapps. I think food is a direct link to culture. I think your surroundings impact what food you eat. I am sure that British people think Cajun and American food is gross. Certain foods hold sentimental value. Hopefully soon I will travel to the United Kingdom and maybe get to try some of these dishes!

-Savanna

Internet Paranoia

Recently in class we watched Black Mirror. The episode we watched was Hated in the Nation. Which was... just wow so interesting. My eyes were glued to the screen. I found this episode fantastic. I have only watched one other Black Mirror episode and I was not a huge fan of it. I think I liked this episode because of the murder mystery. I am a huge fan of crime shows. This episode really got me thinking about technology. This episode's technology is fascinating. The thought that a car can be driven from an iPad screen is so cool. The ADI bees were amazing to me. The fact that someone can create a piece of technology to work and live like a bee is mind boggling. It honestly made me think that the government could be close to doing something similar. I find that super creepy but also super cool. I know that the government taps phone calls but still, sending bees out is like sending a million little spies around the country. I have some of my own theories about internet paranoia. One theory I have is that Amazon Alexa and Google Echo are listening all the time. Lol that might make me sound paranoid. All you have to do is say "hey Google" or "Alexa" and they listen. So both devices have to be listening constantly to hear their "name." So what I want to know is Google and Amazon selling all the information they hear? What are they doing with it? Do you think they are selling it to the government? Another theory that I have is about the self run vacuums. iRobot Roomba is the creepiest thing to me. My parents have one and it freaks me out. Yeah it makes people's lives easier because the machine can be ran with no one at home. So basically the vacuum just turns on and vacuums your house. The iRobot Roomba REMEMBERS the path it runs in the house. so basically iRobot has an extremely basic blue print of your house. It is not like the detailed blueprint but the machine remembers so the data has to be stored somewhere. Which even if the company does not do anything with the blueprint they still have access. Just a little creepy to think about. The only other thing that really bothers me about technology is the ads that pop up on items I have only spoke about and not actually searched. There has been so many times that I have been talking about a new product I want to try or something I want to buy, but I II ne never searched for that item and then BAM an ad for that item will show up on my phone. CREEPY!! I watched a video a few months back where a couple tested their phones to see if the phones really listened. They talked about needing cat foods since they do not own cats or ever speak about them. Well about two days later an ad popped up for cat food. LIKE WTF! I know computers collect data (cookies) on each website viewed so that is why ads pop up after searching an item on the computer. The fact that your phones listens and collects data on you is terrifying. I recently round put that you can turn the microphone off on certain apps on your phone. I turned off all the microphones the phone allowed me to and that has helped reduce the number of ads. There is a theory that the FBI watches you through your camera on your phone and computer. Personally, I do not think that is true. I think that hackers can in to your camera but I do not think the FBI is constantly watching you. There are actually a lot of memes about the FBI watching people through their camera and I think they are hilarious. I am sure that the FBI has the capability to watch people through their cameras but I do not think they do it all day everyday. They have many other things that they are focused on. Honestly the internet is a crazy thing. I think that technology is a double edged sword. So many good things have come from technology and the internet. Things like iPhones, GPS, and even tools used in hospitals. But there are so many negative things that have come from technology like hackers, listening devices, and fake news being spread in the mass media. 

 Here is a link to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0SOxb_Lfps

-Savanna

The Commonwealth

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Commonwealth

If I think about Britain, things like the monarchy, the afternoon tea, Harry Potter and the Commonwealth come to my mind. But for the most people, also for me, the question what is the Commonwealth exactly and when was it created comes to my mind. I always knew that the Commonwealth existed but I never really knew any specific facts about it. This is why I want to take a closer look at the Commonwealth today.

First of all what is the Commonwealth exactly? The Commonwealth is an association of 53 nations united by the ties of the former British rules. Its aim is to create and maintain ongoing prosperity in these countries. All of these countries were a part of the British Empire, before they joined the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth was created in the early 1900s. The main goal at that time was to ease the process of British decolonization. At the same time it was a possibility to maintain global unity through history, culture and language, despite growing independence and self-governance of former British colonies.

The Commonwealth represents one third of the world population. Over 2.3 billion people belong to it. These member countries are united through human rights, common values of democracy and rule of law. Entering the Commonwealth is voluntary and withdrawal is possible at any time. Withdrawal from the Commonwealth does not bring any obligations or consequences with it.

But how can countries join the Commonwealth? First requirement to be able to join the Commonwealth is by acknowledging Queen Elizabeth as the head of the Commonwealth. The other requirements are racial equality, liberty, human rights, equality, embrace of world peace and free trade. Those requirements are equally important as the first one. Sovereignty is a must for a member-state. Also English has to be accepted as the primary language of communication within the Commonwealth. The citizens have to have a desire to be part of the Commonwealth. Since 1997 member-states must have a constitutional link with any current member-state. It is also possible to get excluded from the Commonwealth if a nation fails to keep one of the democratic principles.

What does the Commonwealth actually do? The primary aim is to create strong connections or links between rich and poor countries. Also to bring together a variety of religions and demographics in one institution. Through this approach the Commonwealth managed to create diplomatic bounds between its members. Another very important and interesting thing, especially for smaller countries, is the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which allows them to make their concerns and plans known. This is a great opportunity for those smaller countries to convince the richer and bigger countries to help them.

In my opinion the main advantage of belonging to the Commonwealth is to be a part of a very large network which is able to help and support you. It gives smaller countries a chance to be recognized and heard. It is a impressive and peaceful alliance.

Dominik König  

A Response to Propaganda in Britain

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

A Response to Propaganda in Britain

Just recently in my history class, we were talking about propaganda in the second world war in Germany and we compared in to propaganda of the ally forces. We also talked about Great Britain´s propaganda in the first and second World War. I also read the blog of one of the students in my blog group who also wrote about the propaganda in Britain. In her last part of her blog she talks about futuristic propaganda in Britain and this is the point where I actually got really interested in that propaganda topic. I started to ask myself how propaganda in Britain looks like in the future or even in the present. Because the only real propaganda we know is always from the first and second World War and mainly addresses the same topic over and over again. So for me propaganda is always something that is in the past and not really present in our world anymore.

https://www.google.com/search?q=propaganda+in+britain&rlz=1C1CHBD_deUS761US761&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRu9qC2fXeAhURRK0KHZFYBCYQ_AUIDigB&biw=1584&bih=772#imgrc=MHwcmAwdOg8b9M:

Let me start of by talking about propaganda in the first and second World War and how it looked like at that time.

In the first World War from 1914 to 1918 the first domestic propaganda had the purpose of military recruitment. It was called PRC (Parliamentary Recruiting Committee). It was brought to live at the end of August 1914. I was basically led by the biggest and most influential british parties, except of the Irish Nationalists party. The recruited Volunteers for the war against Germany. In September 1915 the RPC issued over 20 million publications, which included over 8.5 million leaflets, over 5.6 million posters and around 5.4 million pamphlets. By September 1915 over 2 million british men had enlisted themselves as volunteers for the first World War. But also the Irish contributed men to the first World War. The name of the recruiting organization in Ireland was DRI (Department of Recruiting in Ireland). Over 200,000 Irishmen enlisted themselves, voluntarily, to help Britain fight in the first World War. This was seen impressive, because of the complex and difficult situation at that time in Ireland. But both of these propaganda organizations were made solely for the purpose of war and recruitment propaganda. But the British government also created a propaganda Bureau, the so called War Propaganda Bureau or also known as the Wellington House, which was in charge of neutrals and dominions. This Bureau was led by Charles Masterman. His determination was to conduct propaganda on accurate information and measured argument.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=british+propaganda+in+ww2&rlz=1C1CHBD_deUS761US761&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN_Y_b2fXeAhVLhq0KHSJNAFkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1584&bih=772#imgrc=6T4-5azZkLvquM:

In the second World War there was not really a big change in the propaganda system in Britain. There were still the propaganda organizations which had the job to recruit soldiers and there was still the domestic propaganda organization. But in the second World War the domestic one changed to MOI (Ministry of Information´s). It had the responsibility for national propaganda, so in other words to maintain the moral of the people at home and to influence the opinion about Britain abroad, in a positive way. The MOI also had a new job in the second World War. It became major publisher of magazines, books, postcards, leafslets, etc, which played a major role in the dissemination of propaganda to the British people.

But there is also propaganda in the present Britain. Propaganda about a big decision the UK made not that long ago. It was the decision for the Brexit, which stands for Britain leaving the European Union. In this case the british government released a lot of propaganda pro Brexit. For instance the Office for National Statistics released over a period of time several statistics about the migration into the UK. And showed that the migration rate was the second highest. They also listed the costs caused by the migration but also the immigration to Britain caused by EU laws. But also independent magazines like “The Daily Mail” or “The Sun” spent several millions for pro or contra propaganda concerning the Brexit topic. Not to forget about hundreds of TV shows, which also costed millions.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=propaganda+in+britain+for+brexit&rlz=1C1CHBD_deUS761US761&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjf58jr4vXeAhUGbq0KHV5ZAZoQ_AUIDygC&biw=1584&bih=772#imgrc=hGdvE7KmRskeGM:

My last point is about future propaganda. I think Sarah Johnson made a good point in her blog. I agree with her opinion that there won´t be a great fight or world war again. At least not in the format we already know it. Problems in our world shifted to other, newer and more undiscovered topics like technology. I also think that a potential war between humanity and technology could be our next big conflict in which propaganda will also play a huge role.

Dominik König

Sex and Religion in “Goblin Market”

Friday, November 16, 2018

Sex and Religion in “Goblin Market”

Rosetti was a religiously devout woman so it is not surprising that her works reflect a lot of her religious beliefs. But the more interesting thing about one of her works, to be more specific “Goblin Market”, also one of her most famous works, has been published in Playboy but also as children´s literature. How is it able to appeal to such diverse audiences?

About Sex in Goblin Market

One comment from Norton about “Goblin Market” is about that one possible regarding of the poem to see it as an exploration of sexuality. Laura and Lizzie are enticed by the repeated imperative “come buy”, as if it was a siren call in reverse, men luring women. The way Rosetti describes the fruit, the colour, smell, texture and taste, combined with her describing listening to delicious mouthful sounds, makes it appeal to all the human senses at once. At the same time she uses single complex sentences with rhymes and half rhymes, plosives and alliterations to portray almost all the fruits someone can think of. But from the beginning, even before Lizzie brings up the “evil” about these fruits, it is easy to recognize that there is something not right about this fruit. There is also something unnatural about this abundance and as the poem develops further this hurried ripening of fruits can be compared to a rush into sexual maturity. If we go further into the poem, the virginal innocence is shown by the “unpecked” cherries. Also maturity is shown by the “summer weather” which a spring weather could not present. There is also an opposition embodied in the two sisters. When both of the sisters are introduced an abrupt scene change is marked, which immediately shows the difference or contrast between the two of them. Laura made an effort, by bowing her head towards the goblin men, to understand them better. Lizzie on the other hand was veiling her blushes, modestly hiding, which was considered an erotic response during the Victorian literature.

About Religion in Goblin Market   

Even though a lot of the sexual content in “Goblin Market” was veiled by Rosetti, which was absolutely normal for the Victorian time, Rosetti always denied that “Goblin Market” was actually a religious work, as most of the people saw it. But there is no denial about Rosetti putting a lot of religious and biblical symbolism into her poem. The most obvious one is the “forbidden fruit”. From there on it pretty much takes the same course as it did in the bible with Adam and Eve. Laura could not resist the temptation of the fruit and went to the Goblins and traded it with a piece of her hair. She ate it and was poisoned by it. Her Sister Lizzie could not see her sister suffer like that and she offered herself to the goblins as a kind of sacrifice. We can clearly compare that to a Christ-like symbolism.

Dominik König

My thoughts about “Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation” and its message about technology

Monday, November 26, 2018

My thoughts about “Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation” and its message about technology

The overall concept of Black Mirror is to show how dangerous the future and its technological inventions and advances for humanity can be. It shows us possible outcomes and downsides or side effects of technology and the future itself, besides all the shiny, useful aspects. It really fixates on things no one is thinking about or willing to think about. The episode “Hated in the Nation” shows that in a cruel but also in a realistic and good way.

The episode is structured like a police procedural, in which law-enforcement officials try to protect innocent citizens from an unknown, deranged villain. This episode is basically about deaths of people who are hated by society. An unknown person created an internet game in which people could tag other people with the hashtag “#DeathTo” and their name. After 5 pm the person with the most “#DeathTo” will get executed. At 12 am the game resets every day. After some investigation of the law-enforcement officers it reveals that the mysterious deaths are caused by the robot honeybees, or so called Autonomous Drone Insects (ADI´s). These bees were originally created to fill the ecological gap left by the extinction of the real honeybees. Due to a security gap the unknown killer is able to hack the robot honeybees and use them as killer machines.

“Hated in the Nation” is focues on two huge problems of our society: autonomous drones which are used for flower-pollinating in the first place but are actually used for governmental large-scale aerial surveillance and on another technological problem of our society, cyberbullying. The cyberbullying is portrayed by the internet game #DeathTo, created by the anonymous killer. As I already explained, the purpose of the game is to determine a person, that will be killed, by the hastag DeathTo and the name of the disliked person. But all of the people are actually not aware that the #DeathTo hastag will actually kill someone. As already said, for them it is more of a bullying purpose.

If I think about “Hated in the Nation” my first problem is to determine its actual critique. I mean the episode talks about Psychopaths who are using advanced technology to kill people, collective cyberbullying and the problem of Drones doing government surveillance without being noticed by anyone. Which can get really confusing during you watch it. But I think the answer to this problem is, that it actually talks about all those problems at once. It tells the audience to mostly see the bad side in technology and the future of technology. The same counts for the people. Also in the episode everybody is at fault: the tweeters who keep the twitter game alive, the startup which agreed to leave a backdoor in the bee drones and also the victims of the hashtag game. But on the other side there are also some attempts to undermine stereotypes about cyberbullying. The preschool teacher, one of the hashtag tweeters and the one who sent the cake to the first victim, believes that all the people behind those questionable hashtags are normal people which normal careers who just want to express their hate or dislike towards someone in a certain way. I think the point Black Mirror is trying to make here is that people often represent or appear different in the internet than in real life. Mostly because they behave completely different on social medias than in real life. Which is supported by the anonymity the internet or social media provides.

I think the episodes biggest failure is to recognize the parts of its convoluted storyline which raises the most important and also interesting question. What happens if the people, who participate every day in the hastag game, would actually find out that they had the power of collectively determining someone to die? Could this lead to a more fascinating exploration of the human nature? Maybe more than the villain-focused story is telling instead.

Dominik König

Origins of the British Empire and the Competition with France

Friday, November 16, 2018

Origins of the British Empire and the Competition with France

Britain began to make first tentative efforts to establish overseas settlements in the 16^th century. Mostly driven by the competition with France and commercial ambitions, its maritime expansion accelerated in the 17^th century. Results of this expansion were settlements in North America and in West India. In 1670 the British American colonies where in New England, Virginia, Maryland and also new settlements in the Bermudas, Honduras, Antigua, Barbados and Nova Scotia. Jamaica was obtained in 1655 by conquest, and what later became Canada from the 1670´s on, was first established as the Hudson´s Bay Company. Trading post were established in India around the 1600´s by the East India Company. Penang, Singapore, Malacca and Labuan became British colonies through an extension of that company´s activities. James Island was the first permanent British settlement on the African Continent. In was in 1661 in the Gambia River. This is also around the time when British began with Slave trading. The first trades began in Sierra Leone, even though it was not a British colony. In 1806 Britain acquired south African parts, like the Cap of Good Hope.

Almost all of those settlements or colonies were a result of enterprises of companies or magnates. The English crown did not make much of an effort to obtain any of these territories. Another important fact about the colonies of the British Empire is, that they were mostly self-managing. The crown only gave some ground rules and supervised them.

Competition with France

Under the leadership of Robert Clive, James Wolfe and Eyre Coote, the british military and naval forces gained the most important parts of its empire - India and Canada. The British and French colonies were fighting against each other in North America in the first half of the 18^th century. This war was also known as the “French and Indian War” But this seven year long war ended after the Treaty of Paris (in 1763) was made. This war left Britain dominant in Canada. In India on the other hand, the east was occupied and confronted by the French. Robert Clive managed, through military victories against the French forces and the rulers of Bengal to evict them from those east territories and claim them for the British colonies. This ensured Britain the supremacy in India as well.

During 1776-1783 Britain suffered a loss of 13 colonies in America. But those losses were compensated by new colony settlements in Australia. Through the Napoleonic Wars the British empire managed to acquire further colonies. The Treaty of Amiens (1802) brought them Trinidad and Sri Lanka. And the second Treaty of Paris, this time in 1814, brought them Tobago, Mauritius, Saint Lucia and Malta. Stamford Raffles conquered Singapore in 1819 and Malacca joined the British Empire in 1795.

Dominik König          

Propaganda in Britain

  

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Daddy%2C_what_did_You_do_in_the_Great_War%3F.jpg/220px-Daddy%2C_what_did_You_do_in_the_Great_War%3F.jpg

Propaganda plays a large part in the socialization of people. Propaganda targets and appeals to audiences of a culture in hopes of persuading their beliefs to a side. I randomly stumbled upon British propaganda on Google Images and it lead me towards thinking about what propaganda does within a society. It enlists important fundamental ideals that people in power want the masses to believe or ascribe to their collective belief of what is right. In the image above, a little girl looks at her father after asking him the question, "Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?" This was meant to enlist guilt into the hearts of men who did not fight in World War I and let their fellow countrymen fight for their lives.

In this image, we see a woman surrounded by airplanes who looks to be in military clothing. It can be assumed that men are flying these planes, but there were also a very well-regarded group of female pilots (but the government doesn't want you to focus on that). What they want you to focus on is that if you are woman, your war efforts should be in the factory because your husbands and sons are not there to work. Production and product must go and your husbands aren't there to do it. They want women to fly those plans or even contemplate flying those planes because the ideology they are imparting is to mainstream into the jobs of men.

 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3e/bd/c0/3ebdc035d4d7a325fc7be9db991313fa.jpg

British propaganda today looks very different from the past. There is no great war to fight for, but the image above shows a potential war of technology and humanity. These two forces conflict because humans have created technology, but technology has begun to do all the thinking while humans sit back and let technology do all the work. This propaganda appeals to the mind in the same appeal that the other two images do, but has a more modern approach. It is meant to insight guilt and fear into those who look at this image.

What are your thoughts on British propaganda? Let me know down below in the comments.

See you soon,

Sarah Johnson