blog 3 (12-1-11)

I think that the East German government felt the need to spy on authors, artists, and playwrights because they had a feeling that those people had information which had to do with the government. Whether the information was against the government or just about the government, the government wanted to know. Artists liked to express themselves, therefor the government thought they were expressing negative views and ideas on the government, which would then spread to other people. Artists, playwrights, and authors influence people, and the government did not want people views and opinions to be shifted because of that. The government wanted to be assured and convinced that the power belonged to them and not the artists or authors. A government should want to be the top leaders and should want their citizens to listen to them, however they should not worry so much about people's opinions because they should already be confident. Dreyman was convinced that he was safe and private in his house, however he was being bugged and spied on by the government. They did this in order to imprison and capture citizens. Once they spied on certain citizens and developed "relationships" with them, they could pull secret information out of them.  They knew how to target people and they knew how to force things out of people, yet the government sometimes executed their missions immorally.

I think that the government does need a "shield and sword. In some ways that helps keep the government in order and in power. However when you go so far as to bugging someones house, spying on their every move, threatening people, and firing people than it is not okay, and that becomes not even protecting or shielding anymore but rather invading. A sword and a shield for the government keeps the government balanced because it is both an attacking force and a safety force. They can protect their people, and go after their people as well. A government does need a protective and attacking force in order to be "effective" because they need to learn how to control both sides of the spectrum in all situations. A sword and shield needs to be unanimous and encouraged throughout the entire government as a unit, not one specific group or an individual person. The government as a whole should be known as the sword and shield because they work together in order to progress and succeed and no work or load should be placed on one person. I think that the sword in this situation should be used against non-citizens of Germany in this case, and not against comrades in the government but rather against other countries and enemies. Lastly, if a dilemma got to the point where lots of people were trying to overthrow the government than they can start monitoring citizens in order to help everyone. They should not spy on their citizens for unjust and unnecessary reasons. The government should be role models to their citizens, meaning they should not be secretive, untruthful, or plot against their own nation. Ultimately you need solid evidence and reasons to invade someones house and privacy. In this movie the Stasi went to the extreme, but was it all in order to benefit their country?