by Ryan Richards

Created on: September 24, 2009

The Relevance of George Orwell's 1984 in Today's Society.

In 1949, George Orwell wrote a book entitled and set in 1984. This story was, and still is a fictional creation, but rings more true now than ever before. My friends, we are living in the era of Big Brother and the Thought Police. Most can't see it. Some don't know it. Others deny it.

We know this to be true by recent events in the last decades since this book was written. Big Brother has always been there, watching over us, stealing from us, making life hard for us, and telling us it's getting better by the day. Big Brother is present in everyone's lives. He is the not only the elected officials of the governments in power, but the system itself. Remember, Uncle Sam wants YOU.

Big Brother could not do all this by himself though. Quite the contrary. Things couldn't be the way they were without a helping hand. In the book, the controlling force of the people was the Thought Police. A law enforcement agency with its hands so deep into the soilwork of society, that one only needed to look suspicious, or say something inappropriate at the wrong time to be taken to the Ministry of Love. With a two-way telescreen in every home, shop and school, Big Brother had everything under control. These means of control translate well into today's world. The Thought Police are real, always have been. Only recently, with the introduction of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, have people started to realize this fictional story written 60 years ago, might be more than fiction.

Sept. 11, 2001 marked a great tragedy for the people of the United States, and the world. On that day, planes collided with the Twin Towers in New York City, killing thousands. This will also mark the day that Big Brother scored his biggest victory. It is written, "...He who controls the present, controls the future." Now there are many conspiracies surrounding what happened that day. Nothing has been proven. What can be proven, is that event single-handedly allowed the U.S. government to instate the Homeland Security (Thought Police) and effectively move one step closer to a telescreen in every home in the form of the Patriot Act. Now for those who don't know, the Patriot Act is a law that allows the government to listen in on ALL communications in public sectors "for the purpose of discovering threats to national security. What that means is, your telephone, internet, fax, you name it, any form of communication can and is being watched. Freaked

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>