Short Story: Societal Collapse & Ethical Violations

• Innovative surgery aimed to cut food budget to almost nothing and end hunger/starvation, especially to help people in poverty
• Eating trash becomes a symbol of high social status, redefining wealth, while affording expensive diners/meals is no longer considered wealth
• Society collapses, marked by cannibalism, baby kidnappings, the vanishing of the elderly, and people eating stray dogs
• Government intervenes with military force in response to widespread chaos
• Responsibility for disastrous outcomes lies with the government, medical team (due to experimentation), media, uninformed participants who trusted the medical team, and mass panic

Ethics

• Ethical violations encompass human rights, medical ethics, and animal ethics due to cannibalism, marginalization of recipients of pig organs
• Medical ethics were violated, disregarding potential consequences
• Unchecked scientific progress leads to an experiment spiraling out of control
• Government fails to protect its citizens

Story Elements

• The title foreshadows cannibalism
• Utilizes 1st person point of view from the perspective of the survivor
• Set in France in a dystopian future where a “cure” for cancer has been found
• Theme: Eating trash is classy and wealthy, while eating at a restaurant is deplorable
• Surgery, meant to lead to greater health, instead leads to countless deaths
• Imagined state or society shows where advanced medical treatment goes wrong and people need to be put in interment camps
• The public still has not learned the importance of being informed
• Theme: people were kidnapping babies and physically killing one another to eat

Themes & Author’s Message

• Impulsivity cautions against blindly accepting new technological advances without being sufficiently informed about possible consequences
• Trust in authority warns of being cautious of media and government agendas, as they push their own agendas
• Never fully trust established corporations because they do not have your best interest in mind
• Mob mentality illustrates how succumbing to social pressure can result in dangerous decisions
  • It's important to make your own decisions
• Science ethics emphasizes that manipulating life and DNA is unethical

The Coronation of King Charles III

• Three stages of accession include Accession, Proclamation, and Coronation
• Accession is when King takes the throne immediately after the Queen’s death
• Proclamation officially declared King three days after his mother's death
• Coronation is a symbolic ceremony after mourning period and lengthy preparation
• Charles III's coronation was the first British coronation in 70 years, after Elizabeth II's unprecedented long reign
• It was shorter, smaller, and less expensive than past coronations
• The coronation blends tradition with modernity
• Tradition includes Westminster Abbey, use of the historic Gold State Coach only for the larger ceremonial procession after the coronation, and royal regalia
• Modernity includes a much smaller guest list, and riding to the Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach

Coronation Ceremony Steps

• Recognition is when the King presented to people, exclaimed with "God Save the King"
• Oath includes pledges to uphold Church of England and law
• Anointing involves Holy oil applied to head, chest, and hands
• Investiture is when the King Receives crown (St Edward's Crown), orb, sceptre
• Enthronement is when the King is symbolically lifted to the throne
• Concludes with a Royal Family appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony

Celebrations

• Processions include two royal processions with historic and modern coaches
• The Coronation emblem features national flowers (rose for England, thistle for Scotland, daffodil for Wales, shamrock for Northern Ireland) in St Edward’s Crown shape, with a color palette of red, white, and blue

Public Celebrations

• May 7 included a Coronation Concert, entitled “Lighting up the Nation”
• May 8 included an extra bank holiday & national volunteering initiative (“The Big Help Out”)

Future of the Monarchy

• Charles aims for a slimmer, more modern monarchy to relieve the the British Tax payer
• Adapting to public concerns (cost, relevance, societal changes) to secure the monarchy’s future

The Global Danger of Fake News

• Fake news is now harder to distinguish from real news
  • fake stories on social networks are presented in a similar way to real ones.
• Fake news spreads rapidly through social media, creating a"epidemic" of false information
• Main sources include social media (Facebook, Twitter), clickbait sites, and propaganda

Impact on U.S. Elections

• Many believe fake news influenced Trump’s victory
• Misinformation spread quickly and shaped voter opinions

"Pizzagate" Case Study

• A fake story claimed Hillary Clinton ran a child trafficking ring in a pizzeria
• It led to an armed attack in Washington, demonstrating the capacity for fake news to incite violence

Threat to Democracy

• Misinformation spreads as fast or faster than the truth
• Fake news manipulates voter perceptions
• Foreign interference, such as Russia, can spread fake news
• Saturation of fake news erodes trust in facts

Post-Truth Society

• People distrust real news because of fake news saturation
• The line between fact and fiction becomes blurred
• Emotion outranks facts

How to Combat Fake News

• Media literacy requires teaching critical thinking and fact-checking in schools
• Journalistic responsibility means newsrooms must reconnect with readers and verify sources
• Tech regulation requires platforms like Facebook and Google to crack down on fake news for profit by targeting how phony content producers make money through advertising