25 Years Too Late

Both books--1984 and Brave New World--have relevance in today's society, but 1984 holds more truth.

Some would argue that the genetic cloning in BNW relates to today’s genetic engineering, that the drug use in BNW relates to today’s counterculture, and that the sexual content of BNW relates to today’s world. Those allegations are indeed true. What matters more though is weight; quantity does not matter as much as quality—do the similarities of BNW to today outweigh those of 1984?

Nope, not even remotely. Orwell feared a government that would lie to its people, withholding information from its citizenry. Consider “executive privilege”, the process under which any information pertaining to “national security” can be deemed classified, and seen by no one other than the president himself (or Big Brother, as I will refer to him). When the term “national security” is tossed around with such reckless disregard for the phrase’s original intent as to allow wiretaps to listen in on phonesex conversations from US soldiers in Iraq to their loved ones in the States, have we not fallen victim to a society strikingly similar to that created by Orwell? With over 15 MILLION documents designated as classified each year, how could anyone say that our government is not withholding information from us? Our government is living up to Orwell’s claim.

We live in a country dominated by fear, just a described in 1984. We were fear-mongered into waging a war in Iraq, based on false pretenses, but we did it out of fear. Our Congress was fear-mongered into allowing the Patriot Act to pass. Our airports were fear-mongered into enforcing stricter regulations. Only after we were made to fear were we OK with being searched, searched, and searched some more, putting up with long lines and red tape the whole time. Our state governments are fear-mongered into putting up absurdly low speed limits. The general public is fear-mongered away from the use of drugs and alcohol and cigarettes, our state governments fear-mongered into placing high taxes on such items. Want more examples? There are hundreds on my mind. Just ask, I’ll supply. We have turned into a nation that is dictated by the whims of the masses, but also controlled by the uppermost sectors of the government. Who else has had enough of this NANNY-STATISM?

It seems like Orwell’s prophecy came 25 years late.