Extras

First of all, I can't believe there are four of these books. They're so addicting! Right now I'm in the last section of the book. I think Radical Honesty is pretty interesting. For all of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, in Extras there's a a guy named Frizz. He chose to have a brain surgery called Radical Honesty. It keeps him from lying and keeping secrets. He always has to tell the truth no matter what. Frizz said that before he had the surgery, he lied all the time, and was addicted to it.

I don't think I would want to have Radical Honesty. Sometimes it's better to keep secrets, rather than telling people everything you think. The decisions you make are what makes you, you. If you couldn't lie, then it you wouldn't really be making the decision to be honest, it would be automatic. I think everyone should have to make their own decisions, even though it would be cool to have someone tell you exactly what they think of you. But think about it ..........if you knew everything everyone thought there wouldn't be any mysteries.

The Uglies

I find it funny that I've already read two books about utopias in literature, and now when I choose my own book, it's about a utopia too! The Uglies is very similar to Anthem. Both governments are trying to have equality for all by messing with the citizens' minds.

I can understand why Shay runs away to the Smoke. I would probably do the same thing. Partly to meet my freedom need, and partly because I wouldn't be able to pretend to be a pretty. I think I would go insane being the same as everyone else, and partying all day. Don't get me wrong, I love parties, but after a few days of parties, I would rather do something outside in the wild that wasn't fake. Living in the new pretty town would get boring after a while. I think Shay also ran away to meet her love and belonging need. She loved David, and wanted to go see him.

Even though Tally wants to be pretty more than anything, I think she'll change her mind and stay in Smoke with Shay. I think she'll be convinced that turning into a pretty changes you into to a completely different person, the same as everyone else.

Utopia

At first this book was very confusing to me. I had a hard time concentrating, so I kept day dreaming and reading the same pages over and over. Thankfully, I finally got used to Thomas More's writing style. It's still hard, but I find that it's easier if I keep summarizing what I've just read every few pages.
One quote of Thomas More really fascinated me:
"If you do not find a remedy to these evils, it is a vain thing to boast of your severity in punishing theft, which though it may have the appearance of justice, yet in itself it is neither just nor convenient. For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them?"
I find it funny that Thomas More was talking about this hundreds of years ago, yet we still have some of the same problems today. One would think that our society would have learned from his writings, and we have to some extent, but we still have some of the same problems. People that are poor and live in bad neighborhoods often have trouble getting good jobs and following their dreams. They aren't given the same chances that middle or high class citizens are given. Many don't have enough money to go to college and receave a decent education, so they're stuck with low paying jobs. This occasionally causes them to steal, rob, be depressed, murder, or commit crimes, just like the thieves in England. But as I think about this book, I realize that it's about a utopia. Having a utopia is probably impossible. What do you think? Do you think there would be any way to have a utopia and be sure that everyone would have the same chances of succeeding?
I think that if the government controlled that, then it would most likely turn into some sort of communist government. If anyone found a way of having a utopia, then parts of it would probably be objected by others.
Thomas More suggests that people convicted of any crime should be put to work for the public, have their ear cropped, and wear a special robe. While this is better than killing them right away, I don't think it's very just to ruin their life if the crime isn't very serious. I think that If they were put to work, their ear shouldn't be cropped. They should be released after a certain amount of time and be given a second chance. If their ear was cropped, then they would never get another chance because they would be looked down upon by everyone else. He would have a hard time getting a job, and his life would be pretty hard.
This topic can be very easily related to our world today. If someone has any sort of criminal record, they will be less likely to get a good job, even if the crime is unimportant. Hardly any employers would want to take the chance.
It seems to me that if one was complaining that their method of punishment was unjust, that they would want to make it just, instead of just changing the type of punishment.
Although the criminals would still be living, I'm sure it would be a very miserable life, and I don't agree that it's just to punish someone severely for a trivial crime. They should have different degrees of punishment.