1984 and the US Government Essay

Panopticism is the word to use to describe the events that occur in Orwells 1984. In this expression is found the harrowing acts of violence that pervade the novel, and that allow the government to learn the parameters of serviceman existence That is to say, the autocratic control of the government with regards to the populace is omniscient. It is within the US government that the comparisons among 1984 and that other classless state are diabolically similar. There is no clear dichotomy amidst Orwells fictitious imaginings of a super power and that of the unite States government.In all branches of a democratic ball club where control can be exploited it is, in both 1984 and the US government. This essence that in the media, the news broadcasts, the home, the police force, alwaysy percentage where capital is invested there lies a nefarious underbelly of judiciary, legislative, and executive corruption. In 1984 there is extreme use of privacy extortion wiretaps are habitual, a nd in Winstons home this form supremely true. The most oppressing of events that occur in 1984 is the chronic changing of the dictionary. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth.See more than Experiment on polytropic process EssayHis job consists of changing the past, rewriting history as it were so that the politics of Oceania are aligned in harmony with all existing present semipolitical persuasion. This means that Oceania can rewrite history so they are the victors in history and that means they can sacrifice no evil. In the US history the omitting of certain historical facts from history texts has been numerous the imprisonment of Nipp binglese Americans during World War Two was hidden Japanese Americans were taken from their homes and put into denseness camps so that their political or cultural heritage wouldnt jeopardize the Americans fight against Japan.This omission was that one of m whatever facts of horrendous inhuman actions the US has committed and tried to cover u p. Even in Orwells fictitious wanderings there exists the slogan Who controls the past, controls the future, which is true in many US government cover-ups it is in the belief that to keep the public ignorant of governmental activity is what keeps the public supporting their government, because if they befoolt know something exists, then they cant have an opinion for or against it, like the concentration camps.In Orwells novel there are secret arrests that happen during the night. People are arrested for any number of crimes, for having freedom of speech, for having thoughts other than in support of Oceania (for which the thought police will have one arrested), for going against Big Brother in any fashion, there were arrests made and the person simply disappeared. In the US governments history such arrests have occurred. The US government, now with the War on Terror campaign has aligned itself with that of Orwells thought police, and they have done this with Project Carnivore.Projec t Carnivore is the US governments Justice Departments initiative to keep surveillance on private citizens, as Ventura et al (2005) in their article Government and the War on Terror, Perhaps the most intrusive web- beggarlyd technology ever developed, Carnivore possesses the ability to essentially wiretap individuals computers, accessing every piece of datum flowing to and from a Central impact Unit (CPU), provided the data were moved on a network connection. This type of surveillance is slyly similar to what happens to Winston Smith.Winston Smith, though working at the Ministry of Truth remembers history as it was, not as it is written. In Orwells dystopia, media control is essential. The US government, and especially during the Bush administration is controlling the media in every capacity. presently in the media there exists little or no dissent in the political views, especially views against the contend by controlling the media the US government controls the publics view on t he outside world and the governments interaction with that world.At Winstons job, he rewrites history, and by rewriting history, he is covering up a sordid past that if the public new thats how government was in reality, there would be a mass wave of protest against Big Brother and the government would dissipate with so many of its citizens in alliance against autocratic control. The US government, during their war on terror, and under Project Carnivore, has done its own character of secret arrests, in detaining people they believe are affiliated with the Taliban based on their culture.The same stultifying venerate that forfeits justice in 1984, is the same fear that exists in the reality of the United States, with their policies on protecting the American people by forcing certain parties to vacate the country, or by simply holding them in cargo deck centers without cause. On December 6, 2001, then Attorney General John Ashcroft addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee in praise of this act, and its restructuring of the NSA, CIA and FBI. (Ashcroft 524) His rhetoric was patriotic and concise, and his views of the USA PATRIOT act and its changes seemed sincere.This was supported with the passage of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which paved the road for the Patriot act itself. Eric Rosand wrote about the resolution in 2003. His solvent to its necessity was one of sympathy to the government, for having to face such a difficult challenge. However, not everyone who has commented on the alterations of the US governmental policy has done so with such reverence. David Cole compared the investigations into possible terrorist cells in the United States, to the Palmer Raids of 1919 where, interest a series of bombings, J.Edgar Hoover led a series of round ups of immigrants across the country and held them without running play or charge in unconscionable conditions, interrogated incommunicado and in some cases tortured. (529) This attitude ha s crack throughout the country, as the appearance of impropriety has permeated the governments handling of the terrorist investigations. Mary Jacoby brings up the oral sex of the legal definition of Detainee. This is in response to the holding of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.The prisoners of this facility have been acquired from around the world from the war in Afghanistan, and from arrests done in lashings of countries around the world. However, the problem arises when the soldiers fighting for the Afghan military are brought in as detainees, rather than prisoners of war. objet dart the Guantanamo prison has its apologists, such as Charles Krauthammer who states that freeing of these men would be lunacy (537) the fact re primary(prenominal)s, that in unmitigated terms, the United States is in break of the Geneva Convention by holding POWs.Orwells totalitarian society bears witness to the fact that the Party controls Oceania, and every citizen residi ng there. In thought, in emotion, in sexual expression, there is no force greater than that of the Thought Police. Winston himself, when tortured by OBrien, is forced to see five fingers sort of of four. That is how controlling the Party is in 1984, they cause even a simple truth as seeing four fingers false their manipulation is purely ingenious and inhumane. 1984 is similar to the US government in the scotching of human rights.Thoughts are controlled lives are public domain because privacy doesnt exist if even emotions are controlled. The media is the main link between Oceania and America. Dystopia exists in how the news is presented and how the truth is slanderous and causes a person very quick to be an unperson, to speak Newspeak. Though the simple act of ridding the nation of human rights and through secret arrests and detaining individuals without broad them proper due process of the law, 1984 and the US government could almost be one and the same.There is a symbolism here that cannot be ignored. It is in war that the two nations converge. War is good for the economy, and war makes mollification. That is withal the belief of the war on terror war must exist first so that peace can follow. War creates jobs and the therefore raises the standard of living in Oceania and in America. The US government has utilize this type of propaganda to influence the citizenry to support war. War equalizes the economy and every person benefits monetarily from such deeds.That is the proportion between Orwells 1984 and the US government. War is Peace. With the thought police and with Project Carnivore there can be no deviation from the norm, no freedom of which to speak. That is panopticism the government keeping an eye on everyone and everything constantly controlling. cause Cited Orwell, George. 1984. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. New York. 1983. Goodwin, Amy & David. Why Media Ownership Matters. Seattle Times. Sunday, April 3, 2005.