Stop for a moment and consider how much of our current society mirrors aspects of Orwell’s novel, 1984. The phrase “Big Brother Is Watching You” is displayed everywhere within the storyline of the novel. The novel depicts a society in which almost every aspect of life is observed and monitored through the use of ‘telescreens’ and microphone listening devices located in every home, place of work, and even in public common areas. Society isn’t controlled through laws, but through social pressure by creating fear in citizens that they are not in alignment with the “Party”; and should that be the case, you just might be taken away by the Thought Police. The fictitious region, Oceania, was established after an anti-capitalist revolution… aimed at liberating the working class people from the “oppression” of capitalism. This isn’t intended to be a summary of Orwell’s novel but to point out some interesting similarities with today’s society considering the novel was published in 1949.
The concept of telescreens is interesting in that not only could they see everything within the field of view, but they could also hear everything down to a whisper. Consider the world we currently live in and how virtual assistant devices such as Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, etc. have become common place in our homes. We willingly relinquish our privacy for the “convenience” of having instant access to information and automating mundane tasks. These devices sit dormant in our homes… waiting for the activation word to be spoken, alerting it to perform a task. Amazon has acknowledged their devices periodically record dialog for the purposes of improving the AI technology and to improve its services. Our smart phones constantly report our location, sync data across platforms, and share our information with other businesses. Try installing an app on your phone without being required to grant the app access to your contacts, photos, videos, location information, call logs, phone settings, etc. Why does a music streaming app need access to my contacts, camera, phone, and microphone?
The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, works for the Ministry of Truth which is simply a propaganda machine for the Party (government). The fact is, the Ministry of Truth actually decides and dictates what the “truth” is; all literary works are re-written as often as deemed necessary in order to conform to the current Party message. History and events are repeatedly re-written in order to consistently portray Oceania and the Party in a favorable way. And in order to support the re-written history and events, people are either completely eliminated from the factual events that occurred, or completely fictitious people are created to support the “new truth.”
Now consider the recent trend that has been occurring just in the United States. Statues have been forcibly removed, buildings are being renamed, books are being banned, and people are being “cancelled.” I view statues as serving two purposes: one, to recognize an individual, group of people, or event; and two, to be a teaching point for future generations of the reason(s) surrounding the statue. An important aspect to keep in mind regarding statues, a child doesn’t look at a statue of George Washington and say to themselves, “He owned slaves.” They most likely associate the statue with images of him crossing the Delaware River, being the General of the Continental Army, or the first president of the United States, among other things. There are also groups pushing to have several military bases renamed because they are named after Confederal soldiers. What I find interesting about this topic is that most people you ask would probably have no idea that was the case. And I’ll bet if you asked a soldier who requested to be stationed at one of these bases why they requested to be stationed there, they wouldn’t tell you it was because it was named after a Confederate soldier… heck, they probably didn’t know themselves. They requested to be stationed there because they wanted to be assigned to a particular unit there… like the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg or the 3rd Ranger Battalion at Fort Benning.
As for the recent banning of Dr. Seuss books, all I can say is what 5 year old sees those books and thinks they are racist or culturally insensitive? Any adult who claims otherwise is full of it because a 5 year old doesn’t think like that and, if a 5 year old ever had those kinds of thoughts at that age, an adult had to promote that kind of thinking with that child. The sad thing is this isn’t the first time people have felt the need to ban books. The people demanding these books be banned, how many of them read these same books when they were a child and at the time thought the books were racist or culturally insensitive? When banning books isn’t enough, you then have to cancel people. When did it become so unacceptable to have a different opinion or perspective of something? If you don’t agree with certain people you can lose your job; if you express a political view someone doesn’t like, you are removed from social media platforms.
Thinking of the Ministry of Truth in 1984, doesn’t it seem as though the media and some of the tech giants (Amazon, Google, Twitter, etc.) are playing that part in a way? You could almost make the argument that the media and tech giants are the propaganda arm of the government. “News” outlets are so incredibly bias, you’d have to be on a constant I.V. slow drip of Valium not to notice. The tech giants delete posts, deny user account access, and flag content they don’t agree with, claiming it is offensive or inflammatory, yet allow content and posts from others that advocate for the elimination of entire groups of people and countries. If the media and tech giants say 2+2=5….
In the world today who is our “Big Brother?” The obvious answer is both the government and tech giants who appear to be working together. It’s not difficult to make that connection either. The tech giants have demonstrated and proven the power they can wield and the extent of influence they have over the population. It only stands to reason that a governmental group of people who want to obtain power and keep that power, will partner up with the tech giants who can help them obtain it. In return, the tech giants become more powerful, influencing policy in order to protect their own power while also benefiting the government they helped put in power. Together, they make statements about how dire the “situation” is and what society needs, and needs to do in order to make things better for the people. What ends up happening is policies are put in place that actually do the opposite. The tech giants acquire more power and influence and the new policies make it easier for the government in power to remain in power. Just look at many of the policies that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite many government figureheads saying they would “follow the science” when it came to managing the pandemic, a majority of the nation was locked down for months on end… preventing businesses from operating, preventing people from being prosperous, and denying students access to quality education. Why would the government figureheads impose such restrictive conditions if the “science” indicated otherwise? Power and control. Policies that cause a society into a state of hardship creates a dependency on the government, thus causing the government figureheads to justify why they need more power… in order to help the people. The latest COVID relief bill is a perfect example of this. An example of Doublethink?
At one point in the novel it was mentioned that there were citizens of Oceania that had no awareness or knowledge of what society or life was like prior to the anti-capitalist revolution. At the rate we are cancelling our own country, how long will it be before kids grow up no knowing who the first president of the United States was; or will future history teachings claim that the COVID lock-downs were the single most important action taken that saved the country and ultimately led to unparalleled individual prosperity and happiness.
How do we avoid becoming a modern-day version of 1984? By refusing to be cancelled. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having differing opinions and points of view… and being able to express them. The First Amendment provides the foundation to prevent individuals from being cancelled. So why are so many efforts being made to curtail the freedoms it protects? Again, power and control.
Despite all of the flaws and unpleasantness in our nations’ history, it is critical that it not be removed, re-written, or cancelled. It is our history and needs to be a reminder so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. As a nation, if we remove, re-write, and cancel that which we don’t like about our own journey as a nation, we will eventually raise a generation of citizens who will repeat those very things.