1984 By George Orwell Research Paper

Technology has strived through history to make what it is today. To the making of the wheel, cotton gin, to the first transportation system in America. A particular piece of new technology, the smartphone, allows communication through two screens and permits audio. This has particularly brought to attention because of its similarity to George Orwell’s 1984 telescreens. In the book, an authoritarian government ruled by Big Brother controls its people by various telescreens planted around various places, hidden to the eye. Shown by the quote, “Big Brother is watching you,” the setting in 1984 is ruled by fear. An alarming question brought upon us is, “are we reaching a similar setting as George Orwell’s imagination?” Although there may be important counterarguments, the answer to that question is no. Throughout history textbooks, the word “rebellion” can be pointed out many times. It starts
with inequality, injustice, or an unconstitutional act to broil a heaping rebellion by the people against the government or hierarchy. History is what molded America; what shaped it and gave it meaning. If surveillance among the people trespassed their privacy in any way, surely this would be a much bigger debate amongst the people. Yes, the government in time has made it easier to gain access in our lives. Yes, the government could watch us twenty-four hours in a day. However, has that made our free enterprise economy and democracy closer to a totalitarian government? The federal government places surveillance cameras, around various areas to contest certain crimes, to ensure safety,and to search for criminals.
Unlike Big Brother, surveillance cameras are not there to prevent resistance against the government. Instead America promotes free-thinking and freedom of speech. Another device is our smartphones. Articles debate whether they are cellphones or just tracker devices for the federal government to watch. Yes, the government could actually use your cellphone to find out your location. Just like surveillance cameras, tracking devices are used to promote safety. Usually, the federal government would not prefer to track an individual if they have not been in the wrong. Instead, permitting your phone to allow their location services on will open doors to technology. Look what we can do now. We could ask a program to navigate us around an area, to find out what restaurants are around, and to explore the area. Going this far in technology has opened the world’s eyes to many possibilities, to make it feel that we are really living in the
future. What if the government did begin to merge into a centrally planned economy regulated by an authoritarian government? What could we do by then? In answer to that, there could always be rebellion. Enough willpower, courage, and the drive to rebel will overrule the government and live their reign in history. However, today our government has no intentions to merge into an authoritarian government. Instead, our technology has promoted many areas of research such as health, navigation, entertainment, and efficiency. Yes, there may be some concerns of certain cons, like privacy, however there are so many pros to outnumber the cons. It made this world flourish to what it is today.