A look at George Orwell’s visionary book ‘1984’ and the present day reality of NSA, PRISM and other government control functions.
When the creation of the Department of Homeland Security was announced in 2002 I was horrified. George Orwell and 1984 came to mind, and images of the black-clad Gestapo of WW2 infamy. The news didn’t bode well.
From the present Homeland Security website:
Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation (FEHSF) supports the men and women in Federal Law Enforcement who provide the front line of defense against terrorism and who dedicate themselves to the protection and preservation of our way of life, upholding the laws of our country and protecting our citizens and borders.”
Sounds good and beneficial for the safety of Americans, or does it? Many people on this planet are now aware that the cries about terrorism under which mantle this establishment was set up are only a ruse to have more control over the population.
Julian Assange was the first to go public with the release of classified secret government documents that shook the world – WikiLeaks. He was and still is being hunted down by US law enforcement and his life was clearly in danger until he managed to find refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Just recently a second courageous major whistleblower, Edward Snowden, spoke up about PRISM (US government program, traces its roots to warrantless domestic surveillance efforts under infamous former president George W. Bush), a classified top secret electronic surveillance program. It lets the NSA and the FBI access and collect personal data from audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs from the biggest US Internet companies. Snowden fled to Hongkong and has gone underground. U.S. officials said they are preparing a legal case against him and several members of Congress called him a traitor.
The Guardian (UK) on June 14, 2013 reported on Assange’s keynote address via video link from the Ecuadorian embassy in London to the 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art at Sydney University in Australia, who said that also other governments around the world have surveillance programs similar to PRISM. He drove home the facts about military surveillance and Google’s relationship with the US government, saying the internet is being transformed into a military-occupied space.
Assange said,
“Edward Snowden revealed something that I’ve been speaking about for a long time, providing clear concrete proof that the internet has penetrated every aspect of society, right along with it is mass surveillance.
“Right along with it is mass surveillance – mass surveillance by the National Security Agency of the US, working in co-operation with its partners and other countries trying to do the same thing, although not nearly as effectively.”
As a result of the ongoing revelations, the public is becoming more alert and suddenly sales of George Orwell’s novel 1984 at Amazon have jumped dramatically. His novel describes a totalitarian state where individuals are monitored through TV screens and overseen by a leader called Big Brother; large parts of the plot are in effect now happening on this planet. The book is apparently the 100th bestselling book on the site, an increase from its previous rank of 11,855! Also Orwell’s Animal Farm has become increasingly popular. In case you don’t know the plot of that particular story, here’s Amazon’s book description:
“This is a classic tale of humanity awash in totalitarianism. A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. First published during the epoch of Stalinist Russia, today it is clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, and under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of Orwell’s masterpiece is a message still ferociously fresh.”
May the outspokenness of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden encourage more individuals to stand up and reveal the seemingly endless machinations, manipulations and deceits by government powers that are used to control humanity.
Incidentally, George Orwell has also foreseen the dangers of the internet. As reported by Danielle Kucera of Bloomberg on June 14, 2013, here’s an excerpt from the book 1984:
“The invention of print, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further. With the development of television and the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end. Every citizen, or at least every citizen important enough to be worth watching, could be kept for twenty-four hours a day under the eyes of the police and in the sound of official propaganda, with all other channels of communication closed. The possibility of enforcing not only complete obedience to the will of the State, but complete uniformity of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time.”
Chills anybody?
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