The Power Of Power In 1984 And George Orwell's 1984

Today’s society is predicted as living in a world George Orwell envisioned in 1984. The system Orwell invented is compared to what the United States government is capable of doing. Government control of society is an essential subject due to the current mind set of the world today. In 1984, George Orwell represents how Big Brother is compared to today’s government, showing the consequences and dangers of a government with unlimited surveillance power.

Everyone has always wondered if people were ever watching them. Our technology today is capable to eavesdrop in on anyone’s conversations even if their phones are turned off. In the novel, “1984”, the party INGSOC uses telescreens to watch over the people and always know what they are up to. This denies the people’s rights and privileges to go about their business as they please. The technology we have today is almost exact to what big brother uses in George Orwell’s novel by taking over the public and private parts of our lives.

1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves”(Reagan). In the book, 1984, Winston recognizes the power the government has over the citizens of Oceania. The citizens lack privacy from the government. George Orwell warns society about a government with total control in 1984. Based on Dana Hawkin’s article, “Cheap Video Cameras Are Monitoring Our Every Move”, as well as Beech Etal’s, “The Other Side of the Great Firewall”, society may truly have something to fear in the form of surveillance and information manipulation.

In George Orwell’s 1984 Power is gained most effectively through control, fear and violence. Compared to a government like that of America’s, 1984 creates a more threatening structure of government where the public is limited from freedom and happiness. 1984 shows a world of a society where only the upper class has power and freedom from the harsh treatment that the general population receives. The idea of Big Bother makes the population of Oceania believe they are being watched over by a powerful force and oppresses them so they feel powerless and unable to do anything against a “great” force like Big Brother. The well-being of others depends on their willingness to agree with Big Brother and abide by their laws, if you think otherwise then you will be an accuser of thought-crime will be vaporized and removed from society or harshly punished through rigorous treatment and torture methods as was Winston and Julia. Power creates problems for others in which they do not deserve.

In the Present day Americans face many privacy issues, these same issues are very similar to the privacy issues highlighted in Orwell’s the book 1984. These issues are turning America into the same type of totalitarian Society that Orwell created in his book. “Lewis Beals from CNN news said that we are living in 1984 with all the camera issues with the cops and how they can read where license plates and check if the car unregistered, uninsured or stolen. Which I think it would be a good thing differently expressly in our stusiabie. As Marjorie cohn has indicated, “Orwell never could have imagined that the National Security Agency (NSA) would amass

With the release of the NSA secret documents by Edward Snowden in 2013, a once dystopian concept came to the forefront of American politics: government surveillance. Snowden unveiled the existence of PRISM, a program which allowed the US government to read massive volumes of private information shared between citizens. The government exploited legislation meant to combat terrorism in the post-September 11th era. The media’s immediate reaction in discussing the National Security Agency was to compare it with 1984’s “Big Brother.” This term, originates from the 1949 novel by George Orwell. 1984, his most well read novel has a similar system in place in which the government of Oceania knows every moment of its citizens’ lives: “‘Smith!’

Are we being watched? Is the book “1984” by George Orwell becoming a reality? Is our technology driving us closer to a dystopia like the one described in the novel 1984? We are going to discuss what the story is “1984”, what telescreens are and how they are in the book, real-world example of mass surveillance in Long Beach, NSA surveillance program PRISM. The main question is we are heading towards the world of big brother Or are we already there.

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.

At the point when George Orwell penned his new-popular tragic novel, "1984" discharged 67 years prior in June 1949, it was expected as fiction. The innovative setting is over three decades in our back window reflect, yet numerous parts of the book have come shockingly genuine today. The novel tells a socially stratified post atomic war world led by three superstrates. Luckily, there 's been no worldwide atomic war, generally in light of the fact that president elect Donald Trump hasn 't assumed control over the White house totally and Russia hasn 't attached all of Europe, however what has come to reality is the style of surveillance today as assumed in 1984. Americans are currently living in a public setting that now and again is more draconian, more intrusive and more Orwellian than the tragic oppression fictionalized in Orwell 's chilling exemplary 1984. On practically every front, American natives are under an equivalent or more prominent risk of manhandle, control and more unavoidable and innovative reconnaissance than anything Winston Smith ever confronted.

The late 20th century brought upon changes to the world that it should have seen coming; the world came to a turning point in many different aspects including new political bodies, privacy issues, violence, and most importantly, the power over the lives of the people increased. Many world-changing events that range from scientific breakthroughs to terrorism attacks change, oppress, and limit people in the world; and allow others to take advantage of the situation. These events deprive the people of their privacy, cause them to be effortlessly influenced, and absorb the lies in the world very easily. But this is nothing new as it was envisioned 51 years before the 21st century. Through George Orwell’s 1984 – which was written in 1949 – the reality the people of the world are shown and the reality that citizens are living in 1984 are slowly becoming one. The figure of Big Brother is an overpowering personification of control. His ways of acquiring and retaining that control to manipulate the lives of his people is very effective; it involves using various methods of mass indoctrination, propaganda, and fear.

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.

The present government in the United States has more power than many may think, and surveillance cameras are constantly being added everywhere. This may be a huge contribution to this government power that is already so strong. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, he gives examples of how an Oligarchy government would be for a country’s citizens. It was a warning as to what would occur if a government was to become too powerful. However, the American government is not to the point of Big Brother’s ruling in Oceania yet, it is possible for that to transpire if power is not controlled while it still can be.

Surveillance, or a close watch kept over someone or something for a specific purpose, features prominently in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. The book follows Winston Smith, a middle-aged man who lives in the futuristic society of Oceania, where the government of the Party, under the leadership of Big Brother, maintains strict control of the people and prevents free thought through propaganda, censorship, and surveillance. Winston tries to think freely while evading detection and succeeds for a time in having an affair with his co-conspirator Julia, but the Party eventually captures and re-educates both. Surveillance has also become a controversial issue in today’s society, as Heather Kelly discusses in her article “After Boston: The pros and cons of surveillance cameras”. Kelly presents both sides of the debate concerning the role of surveillance in fighting crime, especially in light of the Boston Marathon bombings. Supporters of surveillance point to its ability to increase safety and security by deterring crime and assisting in criminal investigations. However, opponents worry that it intrudes too much on the privacy of citizens, violating what they consider people’s right to privacy. Though in 1984 Orwell portrays surveillance as dystopian because it helps enforce the restriction of free thought by constantly watching for any abnormal expression, Heather Kelly shows in her article “After Boston” that surveillance in today’s world is more utopian since it helps

Individuals claim that the states throughout our country are always being watched by the Government; our every move, our every purchase, and even our every commute to and from work are being monitored. Welsh and Farrington(2004) both agree in explaining that the closed-circuit television(CCTV) is doing the exact same thing. "America is on the verge of becoming a 'surveillance society' (Stanley and Steinhardt, 2003:1)" (Welsh, 2004: 2). George Orwell discusses that “Every single technical device that has been invented, restored, or refurbished in the last ten years is becoming an increasing negative towards individuals freedom of interference”, but Welsh and Farrington seem to disagree. "Fact is, there are no longer any barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell" (Welsh, 2004:2).