1984
George
Orwell
'"Who
controls the past controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past"
War
is peace
Freedom
is slavery
Ignorance
is strength
Big
Brother is watching you...etc.
Every
so often the Orwell classic 1984 will chart high on best a seller's
list. The current enthusiasm reflects an angst towards the newly
elected. Originally published in 1949, it just happened to connect
with readers whose fears at that time was the spreading of communism.
Today it's a curiosity piece where others try to find similarities
that they can relate with.
One of
the keys to its success was the focus of the individual and the
ultimate defeat of the individual by means of torture. In Winston's
instance, his worst fear is of rats, and of course maybe you or we as
individuals don't even know what we fear the most, but the fact that
big brother does know frightens us even more. It's these things that
help the reader really connect and stay with the story as it
progresses.
The
story is well known by now, it's told through the experiences of the
main character Winston Smith and his story illustrates a totalitarian
regime that crushes the individual into a meek subject that touts the
party line, always obeys, no longer wants or desires anything, and
loves his big brother.
It's
often assigned reading for some class or another and it makes for
good conversation. The simple plain fact is that although I have read
this piece, I never really cared for it. I always thought it was just
a lucky strike, meaning that it happened at the right time, but I
never thought it to be very good or even well written. Then again, I
have never been a fan of utopian or dystopian fiction, regardless of
time or place.
In the
years that have passed, I can recall from time to time others seeing
some similarity from the book in their present lives, these things I
shrug off as inevitabilities and or coincidence, because the real
facts that should be pointed out is what Orwell failed to foresee.
The
same technology that he envisioned being used to exert total control
over all we know is also being used the other way around. Also, keep
in mind that the ability to control all information has been
completely destroyed by the internet. No one government can control
the complete flow of information as depicted in 1984.
The
technology that Orwell thought would enslave us has actually been
used against the government in exposing corruption, and that it is
easily available to anyone.
In
truth, modern technology may be the death knell of privacy for us
all, but it's also the end of secrecy whether we like it or not. The
proliferation of cell phones has made citizen surveillance nearly
universal, empowering citizens against abuses of police and other
forms of authority, instead of the other way around.
Because
of the technology available today, it has become more difficult for
police to stop, question, arrest, beat, or shoot someone without cell
phone footage ending up on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube within
minutes and going viral and enraging the masses to riot.
The
Police really hate being recorded, and very often they attempt to
prevent people from recording them in public places. Luckily for us,
at least for the time being, the courts have ruled that citizens
have the right to record the police and their actions!
So,
Orwell got that one completely wrong.
The
truth is we all live in a surveillance society, and the questions
that arise from that are how we interpret what we see.
In the
internet age, censorship of images, language and thought have never
been harder for governments to control.
More
importantly, what Orwell failed to predict was that religious belief,
whether we like it or not would prove to be such a strong force in
the future.
Forget
about all of the supernatural implications, but every religion's
unique character as a social and historical institution make it
impossible to eliminate completely. It's an opiate of sorts for the
masses that feeds the superstitious, and humans and superstition have
been inseparable for all our existence.
The
overall of this bleak and dreary tale is that it's an individual
character study of paranoia, forbidden love, betrayal, and torture
till submission. The story lacks depth, and fails to acknowledge and
examine aspects of the human condition that cannot be simply
overlooked or eliminated.
Movie
Theaters Plot Nationwide Trump Protest With 1984 Screenings
Organizers
of the protest released a statement, saying: “Orwell’s
portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands
total obedience, and demonizes foreign enemies, has never been
timelier.”
The
protest screening will be held on April 4th which is the day Smith
begins his diary in Orwell’s book.
A full
list of participating theaters can be found with the link below.
Check
the site for updates as you wish and contact info is also listed for
any other inquiries.
The
straight facts are that Ringo wrote only 2 songs for The Beatles,
"Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden."
*
Something to keep in mind...if you get a chance to see Ringo's
All-Starr Band in concert, you should make it a top priority. Put it
at the top of your bucket list. He really is an awesome entertainer
and you'll be treated to 5 or 6 Beatles songs along with his solo
hits and his All-Starr Bands solo hits. His shows are more than just
a show, his concerts are experiences, and there's nothing that
compares to an All-Starr Show with the lovable Ringo getting by with
a little help from his friends.
