War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength: Orwell’s 1984 on its 75th Anniversary

George Orwell’s 1984 was more than a critique of a distant, totalitarian future—it was a stark warning about the fragility of truth and freedom. The manipulation of reality, the normalization of surveillance, and the spread of disinformation all point to a world uncomfortably close to the one Orwell imagined. If we do not fight for truth and transparency now, we risk becoming the very society Orwell feared—one where freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, and rebellion is futile.

Readings:

https://theconversation.com/what-orwe...

Meyrowitz, Joshua. No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Miller, Mark Crispin. Boxed In: The Culture of TV. Northwestern University Press, 2021.

McCarthy, Anna. The Citizen Machine: Governing by Television in 1950s America. Cornell University Press, 2021.

Lyon, David. Surveillance Studies: An Overview. 2nd Edition. Polity Press, 2022.

#orwell #bigbrother #surveillance