Science fiction novel from
1948 by
George Orwell describing the experiences of a character whose individuality has been subordinated to the will of the state in a not-so-distant future. The novel introduced the now infamous concept of the everpresent all-seeing
Big Brother, [Room 101]
?, and the fictional language
Newspeak. The original idea was to call it "1948", but Orwell changed the title in order to highlight the parallels between post-WWII society and the policies of a fictional
totalitarian regime.
1984 has been used to the point of cliché in discussions of privacy issues, interspersed with Orwellian; some point to closed circuit television cameras used in shopping centres, speed cameras on the roads, technologies such as Echelon and Carnivore, the restrictions imposed on the export of strong cryptography by the US government and supermarket loyalty cards as signs that 'Big Brother' already exists, and is already controlling our lives.
see also Dystopia
/Talk
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