discuss plz

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Out of all the stars glistening in that brilliant night sky.
I want to shine the brightest of them all.

Our current society isn't exactly the kind of society presented in 1984, but you could relate some things in the novel to the world we are living in today. We hear about news from the other side of the globe instantly these days (1984: they instantly learn about "victories" in the wars between the three powers). When my mother was a teenager in the 1960's, they never heard about things happening in Asia, Europe, et cetera almost instantly until the Vietnam War.

Nowadays, we are also watched almost everywhere we go except in our homes. There are surveillance cameras everywhere watching our every move (although I don't believe it is so severe or only for government purposes yet, save for the wire tapping of American phone lines), seeing if we steal something from a store or run red lights. When my mother read 1984 before it really was 1984, people weren't watched as closely as they are now.

Is this what you were asking for, how we think our own world is like the world in 1984? If I read your post right, then this is my two cents at the moment.

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All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
- "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles

Instead of being 'beat into submission' as people are in 1984, we are rather being put into a state of mild contentedness. We have drugs available to us when we wants them, fast food within a couple blocks, mindless television shows to get our minds off of more important issues. This is the real way to keep a population under control.

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I believe people take 1984 far too seriously. It's certainly a great novel, and brings our worst fears of totalitarian government alive. However, I'd recommend a Brave New World if you wish to draw parallels between today and what is going on int hat book.

Instead of being 'beat into submission' as people are in 1984, we are rather being put into a state of mild contentedness. We have drugs available to us when we wants them, fast food within a couple blocks, mindless television shows to get our minds off of more important issues. This is the real way to keep a population under control.

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Ah, I've read Brave New World as well, just finished it a couple of weeks ago. Enlightening read, I must say. I base most of my sci-fi dystopia short stories off of those two books, but obviously I add in my own ideas to make it unique and "mine."

I wholeheartedly agree with you on the second paragraph. I try not to watch TV save for at night, and sometimes news and the weather. Periodically, I'll watch a movie when bored. I don't take drugs unless I absolutely have to, but I do have to admit I eat fast food almost every weekend (yet somehow, I'm still skinny ). Sometimes I do feel as if a lot of the kids around me don't know or even give a shit to what's going on in our world. Everyone's slowly growing apathetic, and it's scaring me to be honest.

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All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
- "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles

what exactally do you mean by orwellianism?

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When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe.
-Henry David Thoreau

I think that "1984" is one of the most misunderstood books in history.  It was written in response to what Orwell felt was the rise of totalitarianism and democratic socialism before the Second World War.  Today, people assume that it espouses a pro-liberal/anti-conservative viewpoint, which I think Orwell would laugh at if he were alive.  It's funny to me when people scream that America is an Orwellian state, because there are many countries that are much more like Orwell's Oceania than America.  

The prime example of a more Oceania-like state is today's Great Britain, considering how much the government behaves as a caring "big brother" nanny state, as well as the amount of government surveillance that Great Britain conducts on its citizens.  The pervasiveness of political correctness in British culture is alarming, as well.  

I have had arguments with British members of LiveWire regarding political correctness in which they tried to tell me that it was a good thing

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if there's a tiny bit of fallout from this, if someone in some office somewhere gets in trouble for saying something because they weren't sure whether it was sexist, or racist then that's a small price to pay for the massive improvements in the quality of life for millions of people in my country today.

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I felt really sorry for this person, because she had gobbled the Kool-Aid, hook line and sinker.  She saw nothing wrong with the fact that her rights had been taken away from her, and in fact proudly claimed that it was a good thing.  

She had learned, at a young age, to love Big Brother.

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By the way, that book is AMAZING.

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Take your dollhouse dreams and make them real.
- Kara's Flowers ♪