Thursday, August 8, 2019
The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in Essay
The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in contemporary American life - Essay Example Technological innovations have deeply impacted the life of the people all over the world, and it has proved to be the single important factor in ââ¬Å"unitingâ⬠the world. Even though ââ¬Å"the world is one family,â⬠is the often-repeated slogan, technology and internet revolution have achieved that goal to a great extent in their areas of influence without ever pronouncing it, and without any supporting propaganda. Weaponry and strategies play a prominent role during wartime, and propaganda has even bigger influence. Misinformation to misguide the enemy contributes in a major way to confuse the enemy. A misinformed enemy is the greatest asset to gain advantage in war-situations. Being in Britain, George Orwell watches from close range how the operations in theaters of Second World War are conducted by the powers that have major stakes in the outcome of the war. The broadcasts of BBC are greatly influenced by the dictates of the Government for its overseas propaganda. Per verse double talk is the order of the time. Orwellââ¬â¢s model for the lying Ministry of Truth in his book 1984 is the British wartime Ministry of Information that censors BBC broadcasts. Politicians alone cannot be blamed for the grave societal ills that are always there. Democracy is not choosing one of the two evils (political parties) once in 4-5 years. It is about active participation of the people and their willingness to protest against the smallest deviations relating to the democratic norms in any area concerning the Republic. Life for an average citizen has mostly been the same under all systems at any given time during the course of historyââ¬âthat is, BAD! 1984 and the conditions prevailing in America at present corroborate this fact. The people have got to be ever vigilant and keep themselves in readiness to fight for their rights. 1984 The common man, an ordinary citizen, always receives the first blow and suffers and therefore, he has to remain ever vigilant an d guard his individual freedom and other democratic rights. George Orwell is a revisionist. Officially sponsored atrocity and hate propaganda are not to his liking. History is not imagination; it needs to be subject to free and impartial enquiry and that is possible under the conditions of freedom of speech and writing. Every era has serious issues to deal with, or the issues are made serious by the rulers of the time. As for the political game, one important observation holds good for all the time, past present and future. The ââ¬Å"Powerful Chairsâ⬠(politicians and bureaucrats) wish to maintain their hold on ââ¬Å"Chair- less Powersâ⬠(the common citizens) for self-aggrandizement. In the present context, they extensively use the economic weapon called corruption. Take the issue of drug culture. Drugs in any form are illegal and they are confiscated and destroyed; besides the involved individuals are arrested and severe punishment follows, upon indictment. In this area , the Government is not willing to accept any new ideas and the drugs are banned outright. Banned in paper, and yet the industry thrives, due to corrupt practices at the implementation level. After the 9/11 incident, the life of the section of citizens and immigrants has been put under legal microscopic examination. The curbs are more or less similar to the ones in vogue as described in the book
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