Are we in 1984?
In 1948 George Orwell wrote 1984. He
describes a man's life in a totalitarian regime. Has our world become
like the one described in this novel?
In 1984, the Government is always
keeping an eye on the population. An ordinary citizen simply can't
escape from video cameras, they are almost everywhere, even in his
home. And what is happening today? Videocameras in shops, in most
public places, on top of your computer screen, even on your
television set if you have kinect, a camera that detects your moves
for some videogames. Of course, these video cameras are said to be
there to guarantee our safety, just like in 1984, in which huge
posters in the streets remind you that "Big Brother is watching
you". He is watching after us and watching us at the same time
in order to better control us... What is worse today than in the
novel, is that we are not even aware of the fact. Governments can
keep an eye on people thanks to satellites, cell phones or GPS. There
is Internet too of course ; what you do on it can never be erased and
can be scrutinised by the powers that be and by big firms that
analyse computer data on consumers' behaviour and attitudes (in order
to better influence our choices).
What about the "thoughtcrimes"
in 1984, the fact that people have thoughts against the Party? In the
USA, the House of Representatives voted a bill against "thought
crimes", ostensibly to condemn politically incorrect motivations
(e.g. racism) for a crime, but the law is probably more a means of
restricting free speech (Hate
crime article on the Web). The Fouth Amendment to the United
States Constitution which guards against unreasonable searches and
seizures has been trampled by the Patriot Act (voted to fight
terrorism) ; the Federal Government has used this law to conduct
witch hunts against anyone who does not entirely agree with it... The
Occupy Wall Street protests are a sign that people can still think
and act for themselves against the pensée unique of neoliberalism,
but for how long? In China, independent workers' unions are not
allowed and strikes are violently repressed by the Party (BBC
News article). There are unfortunately plenty of other examples
of the restriction of freedom (of thought) by Governments... And, if
you replace the "Party" with "Multinational Firms",
is behaviour against the hegemonic globalised consumerist system
(which relies on the propaganda of advertising) not tantamount to
thought crime, i.e. "dangerous" anti-conformist thought?
Another way to control the population
in 1984 is to give the people someone to hate. Every day, "two
minutes of hate" sessions consist of propaganda movies and
pictures of the nation's ennemies ; people have to express violently
their hatred of the enemy. There are even songs of hate. What about
us? Nearly every day, we can see on the news people who talk about
terrorist groups, murderers, big dogs, the latest pandemic, Blacks,
Muslims, Jews, etc. And people often hate and fear these so-called
dangers vehemently, irrationally, and then can't do anything else,
like think for themselves... Isn't there some sort of manipulation by
the media going on here? And, think about it, does France's national
anthem, the Marseillaise, promote peace?
"Who controls the past controls
the future. Who controls the present controls the past" is one
the Party's slogans in the book. Manipulating information is a means
to control people. Modifying documents is easier than it was in
Orwell's time, thanks to software like Photoshop. The plathora of
information available today and the confusion that the virtual world
of Internet instills actually makes us doubt about what the truth
(about the past or the present) actually is ; people therefore
tend to accept simplistic explanations, which suits those in power
rather well. They have succeeded in making us control our own
thoughts ourselves, which is something even Orwell had not
imagined...
In 1984, the Party tries to limit
people's ability to think through Newspeak, a language that expresses
things in the most basic way, and in which a lot of notions no longer
exist, especially those against the party. It is a simplification of
language to limit intellectual potential. It is a means of making
people think that black is white (that for example "freedom is
slavery"). Nowadays, in France particularly, a lot of people use
words awry, and there are a lot of propositions to simplify French
spelling. Poverty of language means poverty of thought...
I think that TV contributes a lot to
making people more and more narrow-minded ; it is now a part of
nearly every person's life (at least, in countries of the North) and
therefore a good tool to manipulate public opinion and control
people's minds. It is also useful to make people concentrate on
things that are not important like the lives of celebrities, and in
this way turn their attention away from real problems. The TV does
not look at you like in 1984, but it is nonetheless a means of
control...
The few totalitarian regimes that are
left in the world are simply tacky and will disappear sooner rather
than later, replaced by material wealth and sophisticated means of
communication. But, are we any happier or do we care for one another
more than in a totalitarian world? We let ourselves be manipulated,
we are still fearful and ignorant. We are not in 1984, but perhaps
2011 is worse because we have no excuses for the world's misery. And
we are living with the illusion of freedom...
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