The Future of our World

During the Socratic Seminar, many people talked about whether or not our world is becoming similar to 1984. While it’s obvious that society is heading in that direction, I do not believe that any of us will actually live to see our world eventually transform into such as dystopian society.

            The ideas that Orwell wrote in 1984 are an intense reflection of our world today. Perhaps the biggest similarity is the overuse of surveillance. The Party in 1984 watches over their community just like our government watches us, but the main difference is that the Party can interact with those that they are watching. I can’t image if in today’s world the government can speak to us no matter where we are, whether is be our living rooms or our classrooms. I may be wrong but I don’t feel like our government would invade our homes and invade our privacy in that way. I understand that they can track us through our phones and even our laptops, but would they really go so far as to be present in our homes with us telling us how to act and what to believe?

            Also, in the novel Winston holds the job in the Ministry of Truth that allows him to alter the truth about events in the past. In Oceania, the Party changes information in the past for the purpose of propaganda and making sure that they are idolized. They want the people to believe that Big Brother and the other party leaders are never wrong. In our society, the government will change the past or hold back the truth because they claim they are “protecting us” and they do not want to reveal any mistakes they have made. In my opinion, if the government wanted the people to trust them, they need to be honest with us and tell us the full truth. Even though it may be scary or it may change the way we seem them, we need to know what’s happened in the past and what is happening now so we as a society don’t make the same mistakes again. Also, if any information they hold back has to do with the possibility of war or anything that affects how we live, they need to tell us first before anyone so that we know how to handle it.

            Overall, I don’t think our world transform into one like in 1984 for many many years. However, if we want to prevent that possibility from happening, the government needs to give us more of the one thing we desperately need: the truth.