An Analysis Of George Orwell 's ' The World Of A World Surveillance '

George Orwell’s book - 1984 - is mainly about how people are struggling under a totalitarian regime in London that has set out strict rules that it uses to control the people and remain in power. He wrote this book in 1949 right after the end of the second world war. Orwell’s purpose for writing this books was partly a reflection on his present - the war-torn countries, the communist governments and the sheer politics of his time. He was also predicting the fate of the world in the future as it relates to his present. In the process, he created words like thought crime, thought police, proles and several others that have entered common use soon after. The fact that some concepts like doublethink, memory holes, newspeak and telescreens that

The juxtaposition of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 with our present day government and social media presence in the United States demonstrates the imminent danger of imposing figures who control both the actions and thoughts of its citizens. Throughout the novel, the narrator depicts Big Brother as a controlling force that takes technology and surveillance of the citizens of Oceania too far. Similarly, in today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with new technology by the government and social media that demands and records our actions as well as our inner thoughts. As Winston navigates his dangerous and dilapidated world, one can uncover parallels between his relationship with Big Brother and our relationship with the government

Orwell portrayed privacy in 1984 by using “telescreens and thought police,” as forms of surveillance over the population. Surveillance was a strategy used to enforce Oceana’s laws against thought crimes, so that the Party would always be one-step ahead of the people. Today Americans have a similar form of systematic monitoring through technology, which in contrast to Oceana; have increased the standard of living. The government invades America’s privacy right under its nose, through digital entry points that are used as accommodations to American lives. Privacy will result in the loss of freedom, because the people no longer decide what information about their lives are revealed.

Many Americans are being watched, in great detail, by the government. In its ongoing battle against crime and terrorism, the U.S. has ramped up its surveillance on individuals over the years. As in the book, 1984, by George Orwell, "Big Brother Is Watching You". Many people feel that this surveillance is a major invasion of privacy and a violation of their rights.

There are many similarities and differences between the government in both George Orwell’s book, 1984, and our present day government. It is the same way with both societies. The government and society in the book is very simple and the rules are straightforward. Our present government and society on the other hand is very complex and usome of the rules have gray areas. What both the society and government from both sides have in common is that they have a significant amount of violence. What makes the societies differ is that in ours more people have more access to resources while in the book people’s resources are very limited.

We live in a society where it pays to watch your neighbor. Weather it's their favorite movie, shopping habits, or birthday, we can use information to market our products, sending our ads at the right time. Not only is this data gathering legal, you agree to the terms anytime you buy a new phone or download an app. Both the process and results, of “data mining”, are harmful to the individual and the society. In 1984, Big Brother uses his authority and surveillance abilities to survey the population.

Technology is taking over the world as we know it. Orwell predicted that technology would take control of citizen’s lives and make them have no privacy, and honestly that is not so far off. Governments can access these devices and look at what people learning, looking at, and who they are talking to. There is not much that a citizen can hide from their government. Citizens do not have as much privacy as they did even just twenty years ago. With technological advances, the world could follow the story of George Orwell’s 1984. Video surveillance is something that the government uses also, although it is not as harsh as in George Orwell’s story, but still citizen’s privacies are being invaded. According to Alex Abdo, there is a United States owned database filled with every Americans information and every one of his or her associations (Abdo). Even the United States, which is considered a country built upon freedom, is monitoring its people. The American government even tries to follow everything that its citizens do. Governments even have 64 federal websites that are helping them follow their people’s browsing and buying habits (Zuckerbrod). Governments are using their websites to monitor what people are doing. This way the government can know everything from their people’s hobbies to who their best friend is. Technology is helping the government take away their citizens privacy.

We’re not living in Orwell’s view of a dystopian future, but in some aspects, we are. The Party’s Slogan “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” is mostly not in practice today. But if you flip it, it comes into practice. “War is Peace, Peace is War”; we don’t necessarily believe that war is peace, but we do believe that war leads to peace. Every war that has been fought in human history was fought under that the belief that the winner would get their way, and the loser would accept their loss. The most accurate depiction though, was telescreens. This goes along with Rovere’s article about the decline privacy. Rovere’s article was published 57 years ago, but it’s relevance to today is astonishing. Things such as “bugging” and “wire-tapping” are still here to this day. The difference between 1984 and today is that the Party members were always aware they were being watched/ heard, but we have no way of knowing whether the police/ government are listening in on our conversations and reading our messages; in that way, we live in a world much worse than Orwell predicted.

“No one man should have all that power/The clocks ticking, I just count the hours/Stop tripping, I’m tripping off the power/Till then, fuck that, the world’s ours.”

In George Orwell's 1984, the government was omnipresent. With technology monitoring citizens' every moves, Big Brother was always watching. This lack of privacy helped the government eliminate any threats; however, most would say it went too far. The omnipresence of the government through technology allowed the spread of propaganda supporting a totalitarian regime and complete federal control over the mindless citizens inhabiting the nation. Although the 1949 novel was predicting the world 35 years into the future, many fear the ubiquitous nature of technology today is leading to the world Orwell ominously forecasted.

There are many similarities between 1984 and the modern day technology. This novel was written in 1948 by George Orwell , far beyond the time of technology or gadgets being able to spy on someone or constantly monitor someone without the person knowing you were monitoring them. George Orwell foreseen the future long before his time and the government controlling their citizens by constantly watching them and making sure they don’t come out of line. These things are not far fetched and not far from reality and actually occurring. There have been many controversies involving technology and how the U.S Government watches us without our permission.

“Suspicion-less surveillance does not become okay simply because it's only victimizing 95% of the world instead of 100%.” This quote was said by Edward Snowden, a famous whistleblower who was a former employee of the NSA. His widely known revelations revealed that the Unites States, the supposed utopian country, is becoming corrupt through mass surveillance. With that in mind, the USFG (United States Federal Government) surveils its citizens in order to uphold national security but abuses that power, defying people’s natural right of privacy, leading to totalitarianism, and decreasing the value of life.

Imagine living in a world where you could not make your own choices, or be your own person. In the novel 1984, this is exactly what happened. In a place called Oceania where there is no such thing as privacy and personal freedom (Roelofs), the main character Winston Smith, is living a strict life under the demanding party known as Big Brother. Winston decides that he wants his life back to normal and tries to rebel against the Party. Meanwhile, he is thought to be a lunatic because he is living his life how a normal person would, but everyone else is now living under what is thought to be a utopia society. Throughout the book Winston strongly disagrees with the fact that every second he is being keep under surveillance. Though at some points he believes he is being discrete, in reality someone is always watching. In 1984, George Orwell depicts the lack of privacy and loss of individualism which affects the characters and the society as a whole.

The book 1984 depicts a society unimaginable to most; however, a further look shows us that we actually do live in an Orwellian society. Orwell describes a country called Oceania made of multiple continents which is ruled by the dictatorial “Big Brother” who uses different systems like the “thought police” and “telescreens” in order to have full control over the country. Our democratic government, through organizations such as the NSA and NGI, can look through our most private conversations and moments using spyware. Due to the secrecy of the government, citizens in 1984, as well as those in our society, fear the government.

A world beyond what George Orwell could imagine has been created in modern society through the use of not only government surveillance, but also corporate and consumer spying where users are often unaware of spying.. 1984 is set in a neo-communist society where the government controls production of goods and spies on its citizens in order to maintain power. In the modern era, surveillance takes a different form. Often the methods for spying on citizens in the US do not involve a direct line from the NSA to the citizen’s home, it usually takes a detour through a commercial setting. By partnering with major companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, government surveillance programs are able to collect far more information than could be gained by simply tapping telephone lines. This is more disturbing since many companies including Verizon, AT&T, Apple, and Amazon do not require a warrant to supply information to investigators, and do not notify users of data requests.