I'm currently in the process of reading 1984 for the first time since 9/11. For those not familiar with the book (shame on you), it's a fascinating and powerful book about an oppressive negative utopia in which everything down to what you are allowed to think is regulated by the government, represented by the single god-like being "Big Brother". The term "Big Brother is watching you" is taken from this book, because one of the defining characteristics of the society where the story takes place is that everyone is constantly being observed (or at least the threat is there that they are being observed) at all times, waking or sleeping, by means of telescreens (televisions) scattered all over the place, and microphones hidden in spots where telescreens would be impractical.
The year is more than two decades past, of course, and we have yet to be living in precisely the sort of oligarchical society presented in the book (an oligarchy is a system of government in which only a very small segment of the population has any political power, in this case the Inner Party, which represents about 2% of the population). But there's been much in the book that's gotten me really thinking about the society we live in today, and similarities you can draw between it and the society presented in the book.
For example, the concept of "doublethink". In 1984, doublethink is a Newspeak (the official language of Oceania, the society in the book) word that means to think two contradictory things at once, and is often presented in the context of using a word to mean its exact opposite. This comes through in the book in numerous ways. For example, the main character in the book, Winston, works in what is called the Ministry of Truth, which concerns itself chiefly with the spread of lies (Winston's job is to falsify past documents so that they match what the Party has stated). The phrase "English Socialism" (Ingsoc in Newspeak) is another example, as the oligarchical society presented in the book is far from a socialist one. Doublethink has a primarily euphemistic context, that is, its purpose is to make things appear better than they actually are.
Two words: Mission Accomplished. When the US took Baghdad, this was President Bush's message, implying that the war had been won. It hadn't, of course, as the government well understood. We are still fighting the war. This is an exemplary instance of doublespeak (essentially the vocalisation of doublethink). Of course, Bush is a master of doublespeak. That tax law he enacted shortly after taking office, for example, was supposed to ease the economy; it had the effect of throwing the country into a recession. I can also cite the seesawing price of gasoline as an example of doublethink. The purpose of raising the price then lowering it, raising it then lowering it, is so that the people are in a state of "Well, at least it's not as bad as it was" at the appropriate times. Perhaps most glaring? The "Patriot Act" (about which I will have more to say). The purpose behind the name is to imply that you are not patriotic if you are against it; in other words, if you challenge the Patriot Act, you are a traitor, an enemy of the state. Never mind that the concept directly contradicts what the patriots who founded this country had in mind.
In 1984 Oceania is perpetually fighting a war with one of two enemies: Eurasia and Eastasia. The entire purpose of the war is to keep the people in a constant state of patriotism. It is stated in the book that the war can never end. Consider the war on terror. It is a war against an ill-defined enemy that will never go away. Thus, it is a war that can never end. Think about the fact that whenever W was backed into a corner during the 04 debates he would bring up 9/11, obviously meant to stir patriotism and take focus off the issues at hand. This also mirrors what happens in 1984; the war is another way to take people's minds off the fact that they are actually being oppressed by the Inner Party. There are also echoes here of the Iraq war, which was started on false pretenses, and which has been criticized since the start of the occupation as being unwinnable. Point being, W felt the need to start a war to keep people's minds off the fact that his leadership was fucking things up more than it was helping things.
He has several times insisted that history would vindicate him, and he would be viewed in the future as a great president for the war with Iraq. This is a scary parallel to the constantly shifting history presented in 1984.
Back to that point about a very small ruling class having all the political power. With the increased need for mucho dinero in order to credibly run a political campaign, we are moving dangerously close to the point where only the privileged rich will be making our decisions for us.
Now back to the Patriot Act, and Big Brother. It came out, after it started, that the government was secretly tapping everybody's phone lines to ferret out suspected terrorists. In other words, at any time, the government may be listening in on your private conversation with Grandma, your wife, or your mistress. The government is also watching our internet activity, and who knows what else. There are video cameras nearly everywhere in urban areas. And how many of you have OnStar? Did you know that as long as you have it turned on, the people on the other end can listen to everything you are saying? And of course there's Google Earth...
My point is, Big Brother is indeed watching us, and if anything, this book is even more relevant than it was when it was first published. That, and our esteemed president almost seems to be using it as a blueprint for how to run a country. Thankfully, the systematic removal of freedoms and privacy is a slow process, and we're not there yet. For example, we still have a free press in place to point out the problems our government is causing to the country. But we must remain vigilant to assure that we never get there.