The book, “Nineteen Eighty Four” is the story of one seemingly insignificant man, Winston Smith, a civil servant bureaucrat assigned the task of perpetuating the regime's propaganda by falsifying records and political literature. The novel is a famous study for its portrayal of pervasive government surveillance and control of the population.
It is the warning to the readers’ of the potential government's increasing encroachment on the rights of the individual.
It puts forth the study of how your neighbors, family members, and friends can come to the point that they will spy, report and turn on you. They were even apathetic because that is how they could be conditioned to do so by the government.
Common everyday terms have come from this book like, “Big Brother,” “News Speak,” and “Orwellian.”
“Big Brother” is now watching us all with the laws that were passed during the George W. Bush administration. This law is called, “The Patriot Act,” that allows the government to open your mail without a warrant, access your internet e-mail transmission and listen in on your phone calls without any reasonable cause or warrant.
“News Speak” now refers to “Collateral Damage” as the sterilized term for what used to be called, “Non-Combatant Civilian Deaths.” This tragedy is caused when innocent people get caught in the cross fire of a fire fight or within a bombing a target. It is a shame when innocent people, especially children, die but it just seems that the “New Speak” is more palatable if we use the term “Collateral Damage,” instead of civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan.
"Orwellian" life has subtlety worked its way into observing our everyday life with us knowing and without anyone’s outrage. We now have surveillance on every street corner of many big cities, street light intersections that can award motor vehicle violations, shopping store parking lots, etc. You are now assumed guilty of traffic violations and the person charged is not even allowed to confront their accuser. Our founding fathers wrote this civil right law but those guys were so old fashion and could not understand the way things are today……Or at least this is the way some mindless people think today. They even make statements like, I don’t care is the government is spying on me…..I don’t have anything to be guilty of….and yes, even APATHETIC.
This past weekend I met a man from Idaho. Red flags! Of course, when one thinks of that state two things come to mind: potatoes and ultra right-wing survivalists. Fortunately for me, he was on the left-side of the political spectrum. We spent the day together helping clean out an elderly home as she was transferred to a nursing home.
ReplyDeleteHe told me that many people there have the so-called 'black helicopter syndrome.' The mental malady that obsesses about the government coming to get them. I asked, 'Really? They really think that?' 'Yes they do!' he stated flatly.
Odd people stuck in those mountains, living lifestyles that seem like a 13th century way of life. As long as they remain there, armed to the gills, and don't leave their mountain fortifications, i say let them alone.
On the other hand, if they want to skew my lifestyle with their idiotic fantasies, then we'll need to discuss my tolerance.
Who gets to be Julia in your drama, EoK?
ReplyDelete:-}
conincidence, I was listening to the BBC last night and they were talking about Orwell and 1984 and the fact that Orwell worked at the BBC during WW2. There is a real Room 101.It's still there but the actual function of the BBC Room 101 might well have inspired the nightmare room in the book.
ReplyDeleteIt was the room where a correspondant was sent to be "reviewed" by his superiors and kept in line with the BBC/British Government guidelines during the war. It is speculated that Orwell saw the inside of the room a number of times during his stay at the Beeb.
Hello Muddy,
ReplyDeleteI had to get a new laptop because the old one just died. I know well of the type of people you are speaking of. I am right now working on a piece about the 88 year old racist who lived in Easton, MD less than 10 miles north of Cambridge, MD that I wrote about for your site. It is also just about 10 miles east of where Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have their second (get away from DC) homes around St. Michaels, MD. In this rural area we have a lot of those whose paranoia is more of the global “One World Order” aspect.
My wife and I both worked in Easton for many years and she had an incident of overhearing him while shopping in the stores.
Hello Mike,
I am glad to see you visit and follow my site. I am honored as well as I am grateful for Muddy and Microdot also.
Let’s see, the person who would be Julia in my drama would look a lot like Cheryl Tiegs and would be wearing very few cloths, if any, for most of the time. Is this healthy or just wrong?
My true viewpoint is that we should start looking at overturning some of these intrusive laws that were passed in the panic of 9-11 and restore the Bill of Rights that our “Founding Fathers” intended.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked what had been accomplished upon the ratification of the Constitution, his reply was, “We have given you a Republic but the true challenge will be if you can keep it.”
Microdot,
Thank you for the insightful information. Good science fiction based on good science facts along with real life observations, has a unique way of becoming science fact.