One
accurate point thatillustrates about the future centers on the government's desire for
power.
It is easy to criticize Orwell as having been "off" about
the future. It is hard to prove that our modern world has a "Big Brother" force that
enslaves everyone. However, Orwell was accurate about how government, as an institution, craves
power and control.
One example to show this was the National Security
Agency's ability to harvest phone data and Internet browsing habits. The NSA spying scandal is
very similar to Big Brother's control over the people of Oceania. Both cases feature a
government agency being able to collect and aggregate information, and reflect a love of control
and power over citizens. Big Brother claims that it is acting in the name of the people and that
it needs to protect them from outside threats. Similar justifications were used to explain why
the NSA needed to collect information: To protect the nation from terrorist threats. Technology
was manipulated for governmental benefit. The use of surveillance as a means for control is one
way that Orwell's vision of the future is accurate.
In
, Orwell recognized that government surveillance was an essential component
to establishing power. His interpretation of the future was one in which government sought to
increase its control over its citizens. In Orwell's world and in the actions of the NSA,
technological advancement was appropriated by the government in order to advance its own
agenda.
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