Viva La Vida; Long Live Life

In the song Viva La Vida, I think that there were multiple meanings you could draw from the song. To me, I think that the writers were trying to show that while you can achieve a lot by being dishonest, or cheating others, you success always ends up crashing down around your ears sooner or later, and then you are generally left off in a worst place then when you started.

In the chorus, they say For some reason I can't explain/I know Saint Peter won't call my name/Never an honest word/But that was when I ruled the world

Saint Peter basically determines whether or not you go to heaven, whether you were naughty or nice. He says Never an honest word/But that was when I ruled the world. I think he is trying to say that when he was on top, when he was the ruler, rich and powerful, he never was honest, he never told the truth, and he had to lie to get to where he was. After you have reached the ultimate goal and then you have fallen, I think that is when you see what you did, and how it felt to the people you pushed down in order for you to get up. You realize, but all too late, that you are not going to heaven; you only lived it briefly in the midst of your success, but now that success is gone, and there is nothing else left.

Another stanza that I thought was powerful was when he said Listen as the crowd would sing/ "Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"/One minute I held the key/Next the walls were closed on me/And I discovered that my castles stand/Upon pillars of salt and pillars of san. After the people realized he was a fake, he was shut out, and it turned out his gleaming castles of success, were really quite fragile, ready to collapse at the slightest probe. But what the people don’t see the recurring pattern. They release their first King, and replace him with a brand new one, and the whole process starts over. Many people use greed, lies, and dishonesty to get what they want, be it power, money, or success. Even when you shoplift, you have the few moments of thrill at getting that free item, but then the beepers go off, security comes, and you have a shoplifting account on your permanent record.

The honest way to the top is hard though, which is why many people resort to cheating their way through. When you take the time to live life, well the beneficial results are also often slowed, but prolonged, while dishonesty gets you there faster, but the benefits soon flicker and die. Today, many people are dishonest, and you can almost always trace our problems back to greed and cheating others. While this may sound cliché, it will only be when everyone is truthful, only then will we get the success we are searching for.

The Equations Behind Popularity

I am currently reading the book Paper Towns, by John Green. The most interesting character, I think, is Margo Roth Spiegelman. She is popular, but she does not seem to care what anybody else thinks; she just does what she feels is right and says whatever she is thinking. One day, she decides that since her boyfriend is cheating on her and her two popular “best friends” are pretty mean, she is going to play a specialized prank on each one of them. She does not even think that this might jeopardize her status at school. In fact, she became popular because she was confident and didn’t really care what people thought. It’s kind of ironic if you think about it: the people that are always trying to fit in are the ones that are the most insecure about themselves or always struggling to find themselves. The people that don’t really care as much, and are always just out there, are the people that end up higher on the totem poles of popularity.

In the story, Margo takes her friend Q along with her to break into SeaWorld. Why does she want to break into SeaWorld? For the sole purpose of breaking into a large aquarium at night. That’s it. When Q and Margo were driving away, narrowly avoiding the security guard, Q said something I found very interesting. “Margo’s beauty was a kind of sealed vessel of perfection. Uncracked and uncrackable.” She is Margo. You cannot change Margo, you cannot copy Margo, and she will always be Margo. Her unbreakable self-assureness is something that she won’t lose, something you can’t steal or copy. Even if you tried to imitate her, you would not be able to because she is so purely herself. Many people, even subconsciously, mold their personalities and who they are around society’s expectations. They wear what they wear, say what they say, and do what they do, almost always, because it is what will make them be viewed higher amongst their friends and other people. And every time they do this, they lose a part of themselves to society.

The reason Margo is popular and so well-liked is because she draws people to her like a magnet. They see her, and how she is 100% Margo Roth Spiegelman. Her uniqueness shines out from all the other superficial people in her school. She is unique because she lets herself be. The more you think about how you should act and say in order to raise your popular standings, the less likely you are to accomplish your goal. I think that this is a very confusing psychological topic, and I suppose if you decide to ponder the true meanings and formulas for popularity, the less likely you are to become popular.

 I'm sorry if some of the sentences I wrote are grammatically incorrect or just don’t make any sense, but this is kind of a hard topic to write about and make your points sound clear. And now, I guess, that I have observed the true meanings of popularity, by my new found understandings, the less likely I am to achieve it. Please feel free to comment. 

Privacy violation? or Essential tracking method

Are You Being Tracked? By Patricia Smith. Upfront, Scholastics the New York Times. Sept. 3 2012

I read the article “Are you Being Tracked?” It is about how the government as well as State officials have been using people cellphones in order to track them. This can be very helpful in the event of a kidnapping or a murder and has, no doubt, saved many people’s lives. The controversy lies in whether these electronic searches violate the constitution. While they have been essential in saving the lives of many people, Police also used GPS trackers to find drug suspects, without obtaining a warrant. Many people argue that the tracking of peoples’ phones violates their right to privacy.

When I first began to read, I saw that the author had opened the story up with a summary of how phone tracking had saved to people—one from prostitution, and another from a kidnapping. My first reaction was “Wow! How useful! Good thing they were able to track their cell phones.” She then started to show the flip side, and how tracking of people’s cell phone can violate their right to privacy.  I think that the author did a pretty good job of tell both sides of the story, but after every counter-argument, she included a brief story of a successful cell-phone tracking. I think that she really wanted the readers to see that the advantages of GPS tracking were, for the most part, beneficial, and essential to fighting certain crimes. In her last paragraph, she said “The legal uncertainties are outweighed by real-life benefits.”

After finishing the article, as well as reading about the advantages, I also read about the legal misshapes that may also occur. According to the ACLU, more and more people are getting tracked, and with less caution, or disregard for the persons privacy.  “Congress and about a dozen states are considering bills to tighten restrictions on the use of cellphone tracking.” Said an ACLU lawyer.

I think that tracking people’s cellphones is very useful, and should not be banned or restricted.  If it is being used to save a person, or the police are absolutely sure that their suspect is a terrorist, then I think is should be alright to use the GPS tracking. If the police are less sure, or the matter is not immediately urgent, then I think they should have to get a warrant. While these tactics are useful, I don’t believe that you should compromise a person’s constitutional right to privacy.