Essay On 1984 By George Orwell

Is our Future Democracy Endangered?

George Orwell’s novel is infamous for being published in 1948 and depicting what some might say is a near future dystopian that was seen decades before but is becoming more of a reality today. 1984 takes place in London with a totalitarian government that uses telescreens and repressive laws with more than half of the people being distracted and the rest being controlled and surveilled. Totalitarianism is a centralized form of government that tries to have complete control and surveillance over its people and criminalizes individualism and any oppositions against the central government. Today people are entranced and easily manipulated by big technology and companies that make money from their power of

People use social media as one of the main sources to get accurate information, but many sources are not reliable facts being broadcasted to the public it’s fake news. News today is used more to spread propaganda than to inform citizens of crucial information. Kevin Gross said “Technology can improve or undermine democracy depending on how it is used and who controls it. Right now, it is controlled by too few.” Technology is not the enemy; it is the people who control it and infringe on our rights for personal gain. In 1984 Winston the main character says “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”(Orwell p. 34). Technology has the power to influence decisions we make without realizing. Research shows that a simple google search can shift more than 20% of undecided voters and to even 80% in some demographics. Depending on the source that people use to inform themselves, the information given will vary, and this leads to division in society. Our industrial society depends on technology but there are limited laws to protect our human rights on the web or using new artificial intelligence that jeopardizes our

Today our technology listens to us, influences what can be seen on our personal pages which then manipulates our perspective sometimes hiding the facts and focusing on controversial hot topics that deflect from or belittle critical current events that have serious impact on our human life. Mr. Smith the president of Microsoft cautions the public saying, “If we do not enact the laws that will protect the public in the future, we are going to find the technology racing ahead, and it’s going to be very difficult to catch up.” With technology and artificial intelligence developments rapidly advancing that could lead our society and values to change completely. Convenient new developments allow us to easily accomplish tasks sometimes without even moving finger but just being online is a risk of being surveilled and your privacy being invaded. In addition, our devices distract us from our issues giving people a sense of instant gratification and constant mindless