Month: February 2020

After not so subtly stealing a topic from a fellow group member, I think I’ve finally found a topic of my own that I’m passionate about…BOOKS.  Specifically, I wanted to discuss what is probably my favorite title, 1984.

To understand the content of the book, you have to understand the context that it was written in. To be concise, Orwell wrote the book in response to growing authoritarian tendencies out of Stalin led Russia in the aftermath of World War II. Hence the existence of entities such as “big brother” (KGB) And the defector Emmanuel Goldstein (Trotsky). Essentially, the book was written in the aftermath of an autocratic state (Germany) almost gaining a large foothold in the world while another one (Soviet Russia) was looking to make an attempt themselves but through influence rather than war.

Personally, while there are a variety of reasons I love this title. The three primary reasons I have become so infatuated with it is the plot’s unpredictability, it’s foresight and the fact that it makes statements on both society and economics. If you haven’t read the book I won’t spoil it for you and my first reason is fairly self-evident anyway. But in terms of it’s foresight, a prime example the concept of an omnipotent government that analyzes your every move is eerily reminiscent of the NSA controversy that Edward Snowden whistleblew on early last decade. That is impressive in itself but when you remember that the book was written before a significant amount of technology that we use daily was invented it becomes even more so. Meanwhile, the idea of creating a new language known as “doublespeak” that indoctrinates the population is even further is something that I always found interesting due to it’s roots in real science. Specifically, the idea of linguistic determinism gives credence to the idea that an endeavor similar to what the party was trying to undertake is actually feasible. Yet, the book also introduces economics as pivotal to the population’s subjugation. Once production surpasses the bare minimum for the public’s survival, any excess products are distributed towards a perpetual war effort in order keep the population poor and uneducated.

There is much more to analyze regarding the book but I truly feel that it should simply be read cold. However, I need to write this blog and I hope that this was enough to spur your interest in reading it if you haven’t already.

I’ve decided to take some inspiration from my fellow group member Thomas and write about certain places that I am not only well acquainted with but enjoy greatly. So, I’ve chosen a city that is only 40 minutes from my hometown of Trinity; St. Petersburg.

Local legend claims that the city’s interesting name choice was decided by a coin toss between it’s two Russian and American founders. If you couldn’t tell, the Russian one and elected to name the town after the former Russian capital where he had spent part of his childhood. The American got the rather mundane (in my opinion) consolation prize of naming the town’s first hotel after his hometown of Detroit. The city’s growth was due in large part to tourists who came to see attractions such as the Million Dollar pier and hospitable weather.

The city has always had a love for baseball dating back to 1904 when the town’s mayor invited the St. Louis Browns to hold their spring training there. Therefore, it was no surprise that the area’s passion resulted in it being awared a baseball team in 1995 with the Tampa Bay Rays. This, along with a contiunously expanding population from the 1950’s to the 2000’s has resulted in the area being one of the most popular tourist destinations in Florida.

Personally, I’ve always found St. Pete to be one of my personal favorite locations in Florida because of it’s distinct Mediterranean architecture; which give the whole city a unique “vibe” for the lack of a better word. It give the area a rather old yet aesthetically pleasing aura. This is especially noticable since the majority of Florida does not have a history that dates back quite as far as St. Pete.

I’ve decided on a whim to change my topic because…why not. I may or may not change it again but for now  figured I should write about something I’m particularly familiar with; which is where I’m from, Florida. Anytime I mention this fact people tend to have one of two questions. Either it’s “why would you come here?” or “man isn’t that place just a bunch of crackheads?”. Due to it seeming like people have a number of misconceptions about Florida, I’ve decided to take the time to clear some of them up.

One thing I won’t deny is that beaches are everywhere. Simply because of the fact that the state is a peninsula no matter where you live, you’ll be nearby some kind of beach.  The one pictured above is Clearwater beach only 40 minutes from my house), which is probably Florida’s most well known one besides South Beach. However, you can find nice beaches on the east coast as well such as Daytona and of course in Miami.

No, not everyone is a crackhead. With that being said, my county may have been the nation’s capital for heroin overdoses a few years ago but it’s not as if every other person you meet is going to pull some “Florida Man” headline stuff. What also must be kept in mind is the reality that Florida is a diverse state that has the country’s 3rd highest population. Therefore, it’s hard to imagine Florida if you only had a monolithic view of it. Outside of Tallahassee and Jacksonville, north Florida is stereotypical rural America which comes with everything you think of in terms of a country lifestyle. On the other hand where I’m from in central Florida is much more suburban. This includes a mix of retirees and middle class couples settling down to start families. Cities in this region include Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg. Finally, you have south Florida, which might as well be another country depending on how far down you go. There are certain parts of Miami where you need to know at least passable Spanish if you want to have a significant business presence. There is also greater diversity in this region in general even beyond Hispanics. This also where the majority of popular Florida culture comes from. Rappers like Denzel Curry tend to come from the Miami area along with noted trends like blacks having especially thick dreadlocks. Like any place, Florida holds both positive and negative experiences; just remember that whatever you see on the news rarely captures the full picture of the state.