Big Brother is Watching You by George Orwell

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“Big Brother is watching you.” It is rare that a precautionary tale becomes a scarily accurate depiction of the world we live in. Yet with the recent controversy surrounding the NSA and unprecedented surveillance of citizens all over the world, George Orwell’s tale of a totalitarian super-nation that goes so far as to rewrite history as to keep its people in the dark has become increasingly relevant in the times since its inception. Though 65 years old, 1984 still serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of a government with absolute power left unchecked. The novel takes place in the fictional nation of Oceania, a nation where a governmental body known as the Party keeps tabs on all citizens at all times. Privacy is no longer a right, or even a concept that peoples of this world are even aware of. To them, a life of surveillance is all they have ever known, and is simply the way things are. The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, is a low ranking member of the ruling party of London. From the novel’s outset, Winston’s discontent with the Party and its authoritarian ...

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