Was Orwell a prophet?.... hopefully not. But, here are a few
items from 1984 which now exist in modern life.
1984 : Newspeak Now : Politically Correct speech
1984: The red sash of the Junior Anti-Sex League Now : The red ribbon of the Anti-Aids celibacy league
1984: Telescreens in every room. The programming runs 24 hours a day, and the proles have no way of turning their screens off. Now: Televisions in every room. The programming runs 24 hours a day, and the proles rarely turn their screens off.
1984 : Telescreens in all public and private places, so
the populace could be watched to prevent thoughtcrime. Now: Surveillance cameras in most buildings (operated by
businesses), and in some public streets (operated by police) to prevent
crime. Although most of these cameras are operated by private
businesses instead of our intrusive government, the end result is
the same.
1984 : Helicopters silently watch over the masses to
keep people from committing thoughtcrime, by planting the fear of
"always being watched" Now: Helicopters silently watch over our highways to keep
people from breaking traffic laws, by planting the fear of "always being
watched"
1984 : Lotteries with very few (if any) winners. Held
just to collect income for state, and to give hope to the masses Now: Lotteries with very few (if any) winners. Held just
to collect income for state, and to give hope to the masses.
Lotteries are basically a tax on stupidity. Anybody with any understanding
of math at all knows that it is a complete waste of money. Since only 45% of
the money collected from sales is sent back out as prizes, odds are that you
are going to loose more than half of the money the put into it - and most
people will not see any return on their investment what-so-ever.
Every time I see some minimum-wage-earning mother-of-four throwing her
her hard earned five dollar bill down on the counter for a pack of cigarettes
and a "chance to win millions", my cold heart melts. Lotteries and cigarette
taxes are nothing more than a way to squeeze every last cent possible out of
the lower and middle class, and the politicians that are responsible for these
"poverty taxes" should be drug out into the street and shot.
When the state sold the idea to state run gambling to the public, they
told us that the money would go to education. ("How can you be against the
kids!") But, they failed to tell us that the existing funding would
be pulled away to fund other projects, resulting in little if any gain
for education.
And as I mentioned earlier, only 45% of lottery revenues are
returned directly to the people in the form of prizes. And, if you happen
to be the person that defies the odds and somehow manages to win that
45%, the federal and state taxes are going to reclaim 30%-50%
of your winnings, which only leaves about 25%-30% of the original take for the the winners - the other 70%-75% being taken by the state.
And, as if that wasn't enough money to make the state happy, the "big money"
prizes are usually
paid off over a 20 year period. So, the prize winner's earning are diminished even further by inflation. But really, when you look at it, the government
is actually keeping ALL of the money...
If a person wins $1,000,000, their yearly payments would be $50,000
a year. However, the interest on $1,000,000 at the prime rate (approx 8%)
is is about $80,000 a year!... $30,000 more than is being
paid off to the winner! Of course, the winner may elect to take half now ... which means state and federal governments will end up retaining 85%-90% of the original receipts!
And of course, any purchases made with your winnings will be subject to local sales tax...
No matter how you look at it, the only real winner is the state.
1984 : Ministry of Peace Now: Department of Defense
1984: Useless statistics, incorrect economic predictions,
and slanted opinions polls are presented on the telescreen as
"legitimate news", to give people the impression that "things are
getting better", and that all people agree with the popular way of
thinking. Now: Useless statistics, incorrect economic predictions,
and slanted opinions polls are presented on the Evening news as
"legitimate news", to give people the impression that "things are
getting better", and that all people agree with the popular way of
thinking.
1984: History is being rewritten, to conform with modern
beliefs. All references to oldthink were being
removed or rewritten. Now: History is being rewritten, to conform with modern
beliefs. The most obvious example of this - The removal of "racist",
Violent, or Sexist material from popular cartoons. "Heckle & Jeckle"
cartoons have been permanently shelved, since they are said to portray
"negros". "Tom & Jerry" cartoons that contained the "mamma" character
have also disappeared. You no longer see Daffy's head actually being
blown off by Elmer. I recently saw an old superman cartoon in which
the sexist line, "Isn't that too dangerous for a woman" (referring to
Lois) was removed.
1984 : People are steered away from consuming rare goods
such as Chocolate, Steak, Sugar, Coffee, Cigarettes, and alcohol by
rationing. Now: People are steered away from consuming rare goods
such as Chocolate, Steak, Sugar, Coffee, Cigarettes, and alcohol by
warnings that declare that these items are bad for your health.
1984 : There is always war. If peace is made with one
country, war is claimed on another nation to keep the military machine
rolling. Now : There is always war. If peace is made with one
country, war is claimed (or threatened) on another nation to
keep the military machine rolling.
1984 : Songs are created by machines. This is done to
make sure nobody can take credit for songs, or write songs not in line
with Ingsoc. Now : Songs are created by synthesizers. Nobody can
realistically take credit for their own songs because most songs are
re-mixes or a collage of dubs from other people's music.
1984: Telescreen is full of confessions from "Thought
criminals". They confessed to hatred of the government, crimes
of all kinds, perversions of all kinds. Now : Daytime talk shows are full of white trash who enjoy
sharing tales of their pathetic existence with the whole world.
1984: From Goldstein's book - "The effect (of the atomic wars) was to convince the ruling groups of all countries that a few more atomic bombs would mean the end of organized society, and hence of their own power. Thereafter, although no formal agreement was ever made or hinted at, no more bombs were dropped. All three powers merely continue to produce atomic bombs and store them up against the decisive opportunity which they all believe will come sooner or later. And meanwhile the art of war has remained almost stationary for thirty or forty years. Helicopters are more used than they were formerly, bombing planes have been largely superseded by self-propelled projectiles, and the fragile movable battleship has given way to the almost unsinkable Floating Fortress; but otherwise there has been little development. The tank, the submarine, the torpedo, the machine gun, even the rifle and the hand grenade are still in use. And in spite of the endless slaughters reported in the Press and on the telescreens, the desperate battles of earlier wars, in which hundreds of thousands or even millions of men were often killed in a few weeks, have never been repeated." Now : The effect (of the only nuclear war in history, WWII) was to convince the ruling groups of all countries that a few more atomic bombs would mean the end of organized society, and hence of their own power. Thereafter, although the threat of atomic war remained, no more bombs were dropped. All atomic powers merely continued to produce atomic bombs and store them up against the decisive opportunity which they all believed will come sooner or later. And meanwhile the art of war has remained almost stationary for fifty or sixty years. Helicopters are more used than they were formerly, bombing planes have been largely superseded by self-propelled projectiles, and the fragile movable battleship has given way to the aircraft carrier, (which generally stays far away from any actual combat); but otherwise there has been little development. The tank, the submarine, the torpedo, the machine gun, even the rifle and the hand grenade are still in use. And in spite of the endless slaughters reported in the Press and on the television, the desperate battles of earlier wars, in which hundreds of thousands or even millions of men were often killed in a few weeks, have never been repeated.
Hmmm... maybe Orwell really could predict the future!
1984 : Telescreens in all public and private places, so
the populace could be watched to prevent thoughtcrime.