Ficton writers and prophcies. I sometimes wonder if they are the
same.
May 24, 2004, 12:55PM
It's taken 20 years, but '1984' is finally here
By SILVIO R. LACCETTI and PATRICK A. BERZINSKI
Despite the longtime Western fascination with George Orwell's work,
the year 1984 was a non-event. But 20 years later, with technology
achieving feats never before dreamed of, perhaps we should look again
and ask: Is Orwell's bleak vision of total government control now more
imaginable than ever?
Orwell's two brilliant books, Animal Farm and 1984, dissect and
satirize a nation-state that no longer exists, Josef Stalin's Soviet
Russia — the "future" that supposedly "worked."
Of course, the heralded future was a mirage. The U.S.S.R. was a
brutal, authoritarian power with dreams of empire. It died, exhausted,
in 1991.
But part of Orwell's vision for 1984 does seem alive today.
In his book, three superstates (Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia) were
forever at war. Technological advances were put toward three purposes:
promoting the war effort; maintaining relentless surveillance of the
populace; and perfecting mass brainwashing techniques to induce
slavish loyalty to the state.
And so, in 2004 — there are three major power blocs: the United
States, the European Union, and, more loosely, the Pacific Rim,
corresponding roughly to Orwell's vision. Each competes with the other
— so far largely on an economic basis. However, technology R&D is
increasingly driven by security and military needs.
Moreover, thanks to a miracle that Orwell could not envision — the
microchip — we are at a stage in which not only privacy rights but
other basic freedoms will be tested.
The war on terror has eroded (to some degree necessarily) some of the
barriers against invasion of privacy in the Western democracies. The
big question is, will a prolonged struggle enshrine these losses
forever and increase them; or will we again, when terrorism is
defeated, return to a world in which ID thieves and credit agencies
are the principal offenders against privacy?
More important, will anybody know the difference?
Consider these phenomena: Personal habits are routinely tracked —
eating, shopping, dating and recreating — through credit cards and
supermarket cards. Also: Surveillance is ubiquitous, with video and
Web cameras, Lo-jack for humans, and wireless photo phones. We remain,
for the most part, oblivious.
In 1984, individuals are observed daily by a two-way telescreen on a
wall in their homes. Now, with video phones and GPS devices, it's
possible to check up on someone anywhere at any time. Furthermore,
there is a host of highly advanced "watching" devices that now exists,
including "biometric" technologies designed to pick an individual out
of a crowd based on lightning analysis of facial structure.
Thumb-print reading devices are here to stay.
Worth noting is the happy family from Florida who several years ago
had themselves implanted with the VeriChip, a device originally meant
to keep track of your cat or dog. This family wanted very badly to
keep track of each other, at all times, especially after the 9/11
attacks. A huge ethical controversy erupted over the family's actions.
Translate this family's panic into a mass-media alarm to the general
public, and the underpinnings of freedom could be mightily stressed.
Strikingly, 20 years after 1984, the perfection of integrated micro-
and nano-circuitry is such that much of the hardware for mass
oppression described in 1984 can be realized. Simply feed an
incredibly fast server with the information from a chip that is
implanted in a fold of skin — or embedded in millions of smart cards.
With a properly sophisticated database and retrieval system, replete
with bottomless data storage and data mining, you've got the makings
of a feast over which Big Brother would drool.
In a time of crisis, the temptation is great to treat all citizens as
suspects. But George Orwell was right: A society where half of the
citizenry spies on the other half is a dead end. May our duly elected
leaders have the foresight to legislate in favor of freedom, and to
see the lords of terror for what they are: ideological dead-enders who
will be added to the ash heap of history, along with Stalin, Hitler,
Saddam and countless other champions of oppression.
For our part, let us resolve to pay the price of freedom, which is
eternal vigilance. If you think you've heard that before, you have —
from a Virginian named Thomas Jefferson.
Berzinski is associate director of media relations and Laccetti is a
professor of humanities at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken,
N.J. They can be reached at slaccett@stevens.edu.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2585463
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| User: "tw" |
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| Title: Re: 1984 twenty years late |
26 May 2004 06:57:59 AM |
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"jha_amin" <jha_amin@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:33b7880.0405260334.7d2dd5ae@posting.google.com...
Ficton writers and prophcies. I sometimes wonder if they are the
same.
In nostradamus' case, certainly. Except noone can point to any Nostradamus
prophecy that has actually been fulfilled, so he remains purely in teh realm
of fiction.
Compare and contrast with Orwell and Arthur C Clarke, both of whom predicted
numerous things which have since become true and neither of whom claimed to
be prophets..
In his book, three superstates (Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia) were
forever at war. Technological advances were put toward three purposes:
promoting the war effort; maintaining relentless surveillance of the
populace; and perfecting mass brainwashing techniques to induce
slavish loyalty to the state.
Misse dout the bit abour the three blocs constantly changing sides and then
telling their populaces that they had ALWAYS been at war with whoever they
were currently at war with and had ALWAYS been an ally of whoever they had
just stopped fighting. Sort of like the US and the Mujahideen/Taliban..
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| User: "Leigh_Bee" |
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| Title: Re: 1984 twenty years late |
26 May 2004 06:18:25 PM |
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(jha_amin) wrote in message news:<33b7880.0405260334.7d2dd5ae@posting.google.com>...
Ficton writers and prophcies. I sometimes wonder if they are the
same.
May 24, 2004, 12:55PM
It's taken 20 years, but '1984' is finally here
By SILVIO R. LACCETTI and PATRICK A. BERZINSKI
Despite the longtime Western fascination with George Orwell's work,
the year 1984 was a non-event. But 20 years later, with technology
achieving feats never before dreamed of, perhaps we should look again
and ask: Is Orwell's bleak vision of total government control now more
imaginable than ever?
Orwell's two brilliant books, Animal Farm and 1984, dissect and
satirize a nation-state that no longer exists, Josef Stalin's Soviet
Russia ? the "future" that supposedly "worked."
Of course, the heralded future was a mirage. The U.S.S.R. was a
brutal, authoritarian power with dreams of empire. It died, exhausted,
in 1991.
But part of Orwell's vision for 1984 does seem alive today.
In his book, three superstates (Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia) were
forever at war. Technological advances were put toward three purposes:
promoting the war effort; maintaining relentless surveillance of the
populace; and perfecting mass brainwashing techniques to induce
slavish loyalty to the state.
SNIP
Berzinski is associate director of media relations and Laccetti is a
professor of humanities at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken,
N.J. They can be reached at slaccett@stevens.edu.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2585463
Orwell was an optimist, he just looked around and cast about for title
being as it was 1948, he decided to move one digit to give a futurist
twist!
All in his book except the surveillance was going on when the book was
written.
More folk now and more technology, but basically the same.
ignorance is strength.
LB
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| User: "JS" |
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| Title: Re: 1984 twenty years late |
26 May 2004 02:40:09 PM |
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http://writingshop.ws/html/big_brother.html
--
John - The Writing Shop: Writing, Web Design, Digital Publishing
http://www.writingshop.ws
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