Our Privacy and Personal Lives. Blog 9 by Matt Antezana

What we share with share with the public and what we keep private is a big part of who we are. We all have relationships with other members of our community that are based on our daily lives, our encounters, and our experiences. Many daily interactions are considered public and we the rise of the internet more and more of our lives in public to the community. We also censor ourselves when we are around the general public and when we're around individuals that we don't know. This centers a lot on trust because we as individuals value trust to a great extent. These days there are few things that a person keeps completely private to themselves because we have a natural tendency to discuss many aspects of our lives with our closest friends and family members. As stated earlier the degree of trust that we have towards certain individuals determines this. An example of this is in American History X when Derrick only tells his brother and Dr. Sweeney about his experiences in jail. He doesn't divulge his experiences to other characters who are considered close to him such as his girlfriend, Seth, or Cameron. Even though Derrick had close personal relationships with these individuals he did not have the trust and type of relationship necessary for him to open up to them about prison. The question I have is whether something has to be only known by an individual to be considered private and are different degrees of privacy.

The nation that I am of a part of plays a key role in my personal life and in the personal lives of all of its members. The nation that we're a part of determines our shared values and norms. Different nations bring different cultures and have different societal values. What's acceptable to us may not be in other nations and the way the nation affects the personal life of one also varies from nation to nation. For me personally I take into account the norms and culture of my nation but I do not let completely dictate my personal life. Like others I also have things about myself that I keep personal or only  share with trusted individuals. I do find myself wondering if our nation is beneficial or detrimental to our personal lives, and whether it can be considered intrusive.