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It is hard not to think that we don't live in an Orwellian society. Why? The answer is plain and simple. Today's government has so much control that it is like our rights are nonexistant. In an article published by Matthew Brophy of the Minnesota Daily Brophy states: "In Orwell�s society, citizens join the government in the suppression of speech and thought; citizens constantly monitor neighbors and coworkers, informing the government if a person seems �suspicious.� Bush�s �Operation TIPS� makes such paranoid spying a reality. This program asks mail deliverers, utility meter readers, truckers and other citizens to spy on their neighbors and customers, and report any suspicious activity that could be related to terrorism. A recent example of TIPS in action occurred just two weeks ago. Three men were detained, searched and interrogated for being overheard apparently joking about Sept. 11 at a restaurant in Georgia. Bush and a federal law enforcement official in Washington eventually exculpated the men, reporting they had no evident ties to terrorism." (Website) If you think about it, everyone in America is being watched. Look at some of the new technology that is around today. Those cameras that are posted on street lights that catch people's license plates and whatnot. While these inventions are just be looking out for people's safety, some feel that it is an extreme abuse of power and that the government is just spying on anyone and everyone that they want.
What are other reasons for believing we live in an Orwellian society? The war aspect was covered on the previous page, but to go further into detail about that. If you look back to Brophy's article, you see that he states "In Orwell�s society, the duration of the war is never-ending, waged against an enemy that is ever-changing and ambiguous. The same is true of Bush�s declared �war on terrorism.� This war has no fixed, geographical definition. It is directed against an expansive �axis of evil� and a shadowy faction known as al-Qaida. Moreover, this war has been estimated to continue indefinitely (current estimates say at least 10 years)." Obviously, there are some serious simalarities between a true Orwellian society, and the society that we live in today. Another quote that is found in Brophy's article is "Terrorism isn�t what terrifies me. I fear fear itself. As a result of our nation�s fear, our constitution is being desecrated, civil rights are being trampled, and our democratic nation is degenerating into a fascist regime. Disturbingly, it seems the only inaccuracy of Orwell�s prescient book is that it was 17 years off." |
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