Rohloff

1984 in Our World



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The first ten items will list examples shown in the United States. The second set of ten will list examples shown in other countries.

1. FBI Phone Tapping
This method is used by the FBI to activate the microphone is cell phones to listen in on conversations.This works whether the phone is on or off. The phone can be altered during pro duction to be turned into a microphone to intercept without an knowledge of this by the purchaser. The FBI uses this to catch many criminals by tapping into phones. The aspect this is similar to from the novel 1984 is the telescreens.In the novel, Big Brother and the Thought Police listen in on what the Proles and Outer Party are doing. This can not be turned off and the thought police can listen in when ever they feel like. They can also accuse you of thought-crime because of the things over the telescreen.

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2. War In Afghanistan
The war in the Middle East has been going on between the United states and different countries in the Middle East since after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. This war is fought against terrorism  towards the United States and to create freedom. This war not only seems to be never ending (beginning October 2001) but also seems as though not many more advances are being made. The aspect of the book this is similar to is the never-ending war that is going on between Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. This war makes no significant advances but is more to give the citizens something else to focus on other than their poor living situations. It also give the Inner Party someone to put the blame on so that they are always right.

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3. Police Surveillance Cameras Police officers have now been given permission from the federal courts to put surveillance cameras on private property, in some instances. These cameras have most recently been used in rural areas to try to catch the production and selling of illegal drugs. This is also being done without a search warrant and can be placed for even a slight hit of suspicion. The aspect of the book this corresponds with is the telescreens. The telescreens are used to keep watch on the citizens of Oceania and make sure they are doing nothing they shouldn't be, like committing thought crime. The screens can never be turned off, so someone is always watching you. Source



4. Political Correctness
 Politically correct is a term which denotes language,ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts. The idea behind this is for a person with difference to not be offended in anyway. An example of this would saying "African-American" instead of "Black" or changing The Washington Redskins to the Washington Native-Americans. Being politically correct limits certain words you can use, in hopes that the word is never used again. The aspect of the book that is similar to this is "Newspeak." This is used in the book to keep the citizens naive, by illuminating words "over-throw" or "revolution." This helps the Inner party stay in control and keeps the other citizens unaware.

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5. The News
The news in our society rarely ever shows the good things happening in the world. Instead it focuses on the negative things like murder, war, depression, recession, and politics.The news has recently been used to scare the public. What this is similar to in the novel is the Two Minute Hate. During the Two Minute Hate, large screens show messages of the war and rally all the citizens together against their common enemies like Emmanual Goldstein, the brotherhood, Eurasia, and Eastasia. This is similar to our news because it all negatives to make citizens join together against one common enemy.

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6. The Pledge of Allegiance
Saying the pledge of allegiance has always been something done since the time you started school. You pledge to follow the decisions of the United States and stand under God, along with your fellow Americans. No one ever really pays attention to the pledge or what they are saying because it has repeated multiple times and you have been expected to repeat ever since you where a child. This is similar to the three main saying of Big Brother and the Party: "Ignorance is Strength", "War is Peace", and "Freedom is Slavery." The people of Oceania have repeated it some many times and it has been pounded in their heads so many times that they don't really know what they are saying but they know they agree with it.

7. Internet and Book Censorship
The government has put block on certain things in books and on the internet. The government will take out or delete parts of books that they thinks are not appropriate for the viewing of others. They can also delete things offline and put blocks up for peoples age. This is basically keeping us naive and not allowing us to view what we want. This is similar to the "Newspeak" language. The Inner Party uses this to keep the others naive and manipulates it how they want. They delete what they want to add what they want, so that the citizens can listen to them only.

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">8. Gas Prices
Since gas is a non-renewable resouce it is very hard to find and must be shared through the entire world; however the governemt uses this against us and casue the gas prices to spike extremely high. They can make the prices however high gthey want and cause us to buy less to save money. It also has to be split equally in the world so that will majke the prrices go up or down. This is similar to the chocolate ration in the book. The chocolate is few in the novel so it goes up and down according to how big brother decisoed.

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">9. Social Class
In the United States we have a very small upper class, with a very large middle class, and a small lower class. In the United States the upper classs is basically handed whatever they wanted. They have a lot of money so they have a lot of privilages. The lower class also has some advantages because they are so few of them. They can have wellfare and government phones. The lower class doesn/t have much to worry about, with all the government support they get. The middle class has to work hard because they don't recieve any help but yet they don't have enough money to just have things handed to them. In the novel, the Upper Party gets handed whatever they want. They get special privilages and don't have to work for much. The Proles are trouble-free. They don't mind being poor and they don;t have to worry about the stress of the Upper Party. The Outer Party is the party has to work the hardest to stay where they are and keep up.

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">10. Boston Marathon Bombing
When the United States was bombed at the Boston Marathon, a lot of the media blew it up sayign that it was an attack from North Korea. No one knows where this bombing came from but because there is trouble with North Korea, they are automatically at blame. While walking, often bombs ar dropped. The citizens don;t know specificlly where they came from, but they all assume it comes the country that they are at war with. They just expect that everything that goes wrong is from the enimies. These are both ways to put blame on the enemy and ban together against them, ignoring the bigger picture. media type="youtube" key="JYXDHfvQJFs" width="560" height="315"

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">11. United States/ Mexico Border Control
The United States has had it set up for years that Mexican immigrants can't enter the United States. There a gate a long the entire border to keep out immigrants and keeping them in Mexico. The US doesn't want Mex to come into the US so that they can stay in power and choose who gets to be here. This related to Oceania because they don;t want people to leave so that big brother can always be in power.

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<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; line-height: 1.5; text-align: center;">12. Kim Jong-Un
<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; line-height: 1.5; text-align: left;">He is the dictator of North Korea. The government is run completely around him, so whatever he says goes. If his orders are not followed, he does away with you instantly. This is the same as Big Brother. Everything revolves around him and if you go against him, you will be terminated. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; line-height: 1.5; text-align: left;">

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">13. Iran Computer Networking
The Iran government has created a computer Networking to see what all computer users in Iran are on and using and surveillance what all citizens do taking away their independence. The government will monitor the the use of websites. This is like the telescreens and how they can monitor whatever the citizens are doing and see if they are making thought crimes.

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<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">14. Cuban Rations
<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">Everything is Cuba must be rationed so that there is enough for everyone. However the government can set the size of this to whatever they want. This is like the chocolate ration so Big Brother can stay in control.

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">15. Chinese Surveillance Cameras
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The Chinese government has placed police surveillance cameras not only in places like parks, but also taxis, elevator, and other odd places. This has been inducted so that the Chinese government can always keep a watch on their citizens and see what they are doing. This collates with the telescreens in the novel. The telelscreens are used to watch the citizens, so the thought police can watch every move and make sure no one is committing a thought crime.

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">16. Internet Censorship In China
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The Chinese government has begun to censor all types of social media like Twitter, Facebook, ect. The government will go as far as to through people in jail for their webpages and shutting down an entire website. This is lessening the freedoms of the Chinese citizens and giving more control to the ruling power. This is shows the same ruling that is dealt in the novel. The Inner Party monitors everything that is done, and will completely delete something if it is not for them. They also through people in jail for not following their ways.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">17. Poor LIving Conditions in The Dominican Republic <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">This is similar to the novel because in both situations they citizens are forced to live in houses with dirt floor. There is no help from the government and they basically are left to rot.l