The artifact that I am analyzing is the cover page of a cold war propaganda comic book. The propaganda object appealed to me because the way that the United States used biased information as a method to influence the public to view an issue a certain way seemed comical and attention-grabbing. The cover page also fits with the themes of this course in that the picture foreshadows a dystopian society as a result of a more modernized idea. The comic book, called Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism, was published in 1947 by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society, an anti-communist group. The comic book was intended to inform the citizens about the dangers of the possible spread of communism through scare tactics and pathos. For instance, false dilemma is expressed in the picture by claiming that either the citizens of the United States stay away from communism or the United States will fall apart as a nation, and hasty generalization is used to demonstrate that all communists are evil because the communists represented in the picture are harming the Americans. The cover page is also farce in the way that the fire is destroying everything. The picture of the cover page is designed to encourage fear of communism in America and a sense of nationalism in that the public can come together to defeat the common enemy being communism. The author assumes that the audience, being Americans, can be manipulated enough to be brainwashed through the fear of the country crumpling as a result of communist influence. The message of the cover page directly relates to the rise of the Cold War and the panic of communism threatening national security. As a whole, the cover page attracted me because of everything that I can gain from the message of the picture intellectually and emotionally.

Desiring to rekindle his past relationships as well as attempting to rejuvenate his health, Lenny decided that it was time for him schedule a reunion with his friends, Noah and Vishnu. Though much to his dismay, the night did not go in the direction that he anticipated. Meeting with his friends only emphasized how outdated he was as a result of the trip to Rome. The night for him only seemed like embarrassment as he unintentionally acted more ancient than his peers. In particular, after seeing Lenny’s many book purchases, Vishnu commented that it will only make his personality rankings go down. Even though books were once seen as a tool to strengthen minds intellectually, Vishnu contradicted the popular belief by saying that books only debilitate a person socially.

This scene in Super Sad True Love Story alludes to the idea that in our society, the increase dependence of technology may result in a diminishing interest in books in the future. One can already begin to notice the start of a transformation just by seeing tablets replacing bibles in a church or audiobook sales increasing while bookstores suffer. Since books in Super Sad True Love Story are associated with old age, it is frowned upon socially to possess or to read books in order to be a part of the juvenile society rather than an outsider. While technology is useful in terms of accessibility, books provide greater insight than any typical machinery could provide. For instance, through the author, we can acquire valuable ideas and cultural aspects that existed in the time period, and books also give us awareness and different perspectives that authors present based on their research on a certain topic. This element in Super Sad True Love Story draws attention to being aware of how much a reliance on technology can have the ability to hinder other essential contributions to our society if we allow it to occur.

It has been common today to dismiss the idea of having the government use technology to closely inspect the public in promotion of its general welfare due to the right of privacy among the citizens in the United States. However, recent scenarios where technology benefitted communities’ safety suggests that the loss of certain privacy rights may not be such a bad idea. Searching for a way to improve the war efforts in Iraq, Ross McNutt and his team invented a way to go back in time to a crime scene by sending a plane with a camera in the sky to supervise the area 24/7. Once this technology was promoted and implemented in the cities with high crime rates, the effects were dramatically apparent; In a matter of minutes, a homicide cases were pin-pointed to its source. In sum, the opportunity of immediate justice for the victims is far more important than giving up some personal privacy if it means better protection of the public.

The rights of privacy have been viewed as a divine entitlement to all citizens of the United States. However, with the increased sophistication of technology, privacy which has once been thought of being an absolute right is now becoming more conditional. Although Ross McNutt’s technology has been effective in the Iraq war efforts and is useful in protecting our society, there must be a limit on the amount of privacy that an organization can take from the citizens in the merits of “general welfare”. While it is successful in solving crimes at a faster rate, the issue lies in the possibility of even more privacy restricting technology that may arise. In addition, while crime rate may initially decrease, the initial change may revert back to its original condition due to the fact that criminals will just adapt to the new conditions and find other ways to commit crimes more discreetly. Having the ability to closely inspect the population doesn’t justify whether or not it is something that we should do.