Future of Soccer

     In the short story, Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut creates a society based on equality.  Those with any sort of talent, whether it be athleticism, intelligence, or beauty.  If our government were to put similar restrictions on people with talent to achieve equality, I would have the physical handicap of weight added to my body to make it harder for me to move.  As an athlete, I believe I have more strength than the average person; therefore, in order to make everyone equal, I would need weights that restrict me.
     I'm no Harrison Bergeron, but I believe a handicap would be necessary in the society he lived in.  The concern would mainly be my lower body (I have no upper body strength).  Since I play soccer, I assume the government would restrict my performance in the sport as well, like they do to the ballerinas.  Again, I might have weights on my legs to slow me down or reduce the length of my kick, but I may also have an earpiece to distract me as well.  If I were able to think better in a game than another person, equality would not exist.  The earpiece making noise every minute or so may hinder my playing, which, in 2081, would be a perfectly rational thing. The game would be much slower, in that everyone is just as good as everyone else.

Propaganda

     When you hear the word "propaganda", negative images may come to mind. Propaganda can be a bad thing, such as misleading advertisements, but propaganda can be benificial sometimes. It is described to be a spreading of information, whether that information is true or not. Commercials and other types of advertising are examples of propaganda; some have good intent to inform the public, while others just try to trick people into buying the product they are selling. Informing the public of national or international affairs is a very important kind of propaganda as it keeps people up to date on current events around the country and/or world. If given by a credible source about a relevant topic, propaganda can be a very successful way to update the public.
     Of course, there are many negative types of propaganda; the kinds that everybody sees most often.  Many times, people are smart enough to understand the difference between genuine information and rumors meant to deceive them, but there are times when the propaganda is so persuasive that it convinces you to believe in it.  For instance, the SPCA commercials with Sarah McLachlan show heart-wrenching images of abused, starving, or sick animals. These images along with sad music emotionally sways you to at least feel sympathy for those animals. Personally, I always have to change the channel when these type of commercials come on because they are so emotionally moving that I cannot watch without feeling bad. This is effective in what the goal of this advertisement is, but it can be considered a misuse of propaganda. Even though propaganda can serve as a food service to the public, there is so much of it that can mislead almost anyone. There is a time and a place for propaganda, and we have way too much of it in the modern world.