Compare and contrast the benefits and negatives of the government taking control in this way.

The Society relies on statistical probabilities whenever possible and confines its citizens to strict, organized lives of proper diets, adequate exercise, underwhelming amounts of information, and ideal romantic partners. Every action has a purpose; every schedule is efficient and thought-out. When the maple trees in people’s yards grow naturally rather than uniformly, they are cut down. Even the garbage citizens incinerate is monitored and recorded to ensure that nothing is destroyed that shouldn’t be. This kind of systematic order is the foundation upon which all of civilization, according to the Society’s government, maintains peace.

The Society’s government is able to maintain such unquestioning obedience and structure by regulating the environments of its citizens. They receive exposure to only one hundred pre-approved songs, poems, paintings, stories, etc. They cannot write with their hands, only tap keys on screens. They cannot even type out original thoughts: the letter-writers on their home ports allow only for the rearrangement of words and sentiments that others have already created. Citizens are also only allowed to learn about certain fields in order to keep the total amount of knowledge they have at an underwhelming level. Cooks do not learn about plants, and Arboretum workers do not learn to cook. Limitation is what keeps the Society’s unwavering order in balance.