So George Orwell was only 25 years out...

cardboardbox?Youwerelucky · So George Orwell was only 25 years out...

I don't know how many of you have read 1984 but 2 things stick in mind about where we are headed as a country

1. Thought Police (1984) - The Thought Police (thinkpol in Newspeak) are the secret police of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four whose job it is to uncover and punish thoughtcrime. The Thought Police use psychology and omnipresent surveillance to find and eliminate members of society who are capable of the mere thought of challenging ruling authority

2009 - A country with more surveillance going on that any other country - there is some frightening statistic about what % of the country is now under surveillance AND do people not think it is "odd" that this government seem intent on giving people "decision trees" to make choices rather than "free thought" - more regulation, more guidelines, more red tape - all of this reduces our ability to make our own choices as everything has rules & regulations to be followed to the letter

2. Orwellian (1984) - It can refer to totalitarian action or organization, as well as governmental attempts to control or misuse information for the purposes of controlling, pacifying or even subjugating the population

2009 - Hmmmmm misuse of information to say.....go to war with Iraq......and then make us think that our children are going to be abducted at every possible turn in life, that terrorists are only millimetres away from being successful, the there is a simple good guy vs bad guy explanation to all their military actions... and that when someone "whistleblows" they are conveniently found in a wood after "commiting suicide" Rolling Eyes

3. Big Brother (1984) - In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state

2009 - And the government NOW want to monitor every phone call, every email, every blog entry, every internet visit in their "fight" against terrorism...

And finally - a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence - where the ruling elite ('the Party') wield total power for its own sake over the inhabitants. (Labour 2009)

raveydavey

I've commemted on the other thread that mentions this (Google street view), but how have we ended up in this situation.

You can't go anywhere without being recorded on CCTV, your car registration recorded on camera and your journey logged. Phone calls (mobile and land line) are already recorded, as are any e-mails you dare to send.

Then there is the new 53 question government questionnaire that you have to complete 24 hours before you leave the country to go on holiday or you face jail.

And now every single web page, blog post or forum entry you make is going to be recorded from last week.

A cynic might think that it should come as no surprise that in the week before the new laws are implemented, the government have upgraded the terror risk to it's second highest level just to rachet up the fear.

It's truly scary. And this from a Labour government - it tell you all you need to know when the Tories have become the party of liberty and free speech.

So they tell us that the innocent have nothing to fear, but we've already seen an opposition MP arrested in the House of Commons by anti-terror police for having the cheek to challenge government lies. What chance has Joe Public got?

Meanwhile the Home Secretary and other government officials rip the arse out of "expenses" while sticking two fingers up at the electorate. Which brings us back to George Orwell, who wrote in one of his other books that "all animals are equal, just some are more equal than others".

halfaperson

Absolutely spot chuffing on Boxy and ravey, Couple all the surveillance and intelligence with ever increasing legislation making almost everything you do illegal and you have the complete control that they want. I tell thee this summer there ought to be mass protest by ordinary people sick of the way things are and been crapped on by the Authorities, big business corporations, government and the worlds elite rich.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2...0-protest-police-rainbow-alliance

For starters

raveydavey