Orwell’s Vision of Today’s Security Culture
Surveillance, Torture and Newspeak?
George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984 was written in 1948 and its relevance to the modern security culture in undeniable. The story takes place in a totalitarian society where the Party controls all aspects of life in the nation of Oceania. An introductory quotation frames the narrative stating, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” The Party and its figurehead Big Brother accomplish absolute control by using constant propaganda, control of the media, perpetual surveillance, manipulation of the language, unending war, the politics of fear, and society’s reliance on government jobs and subsidies.
Orwell’s society is thoroughly indoctrinated in the groupthink phenomenon and independent thought and critical thinking are considered capital thoughtcrimes. These crimes are enforced by the Party’s Thought Police who conduct unceasing surveillance on Oceania’s citizens. Once a person is identified as a thought criminal the Party arrests them and conducts reeducation and interrogation. This consists of brainwashing and torture techniques used to extract all information from the subject including co-conspirators as well as to obtain a publicized admission of guilt.
Over six decades later many of Orwell’s predictions have at least in part come to true. Following the attacks on the homeland on September 11, 2001, American society gave its government unprecedented authority to fight terrorism. In response to society’s call the Bush Administration created a enormous security culture that has been maintained and expanded by the Obama Administration. Orwell’s prediction of a society manipulated by groupthink, driven by the politics of fear has in many ways materialized. In the name of homeland security the U.S. government has conducted what many would consider torture and assassination of foreigners and at times U.S. citizens that it deems enemies. Today more Americans then at almost any other time in history are permanently dependent on the government for employment or sustenance. Dissent and opposing opinions are often interpreted by the political in-groups as honor challenges and they are denounced as unpatriotic, racist, or irrational.
In Oceania the Party continually broadcasts messages to distract and confuse the citizens and control their frame of mind. The malevolent forces of the enemy states of Eurasia and Eastasia constantly threatened peaceful Oceania. An enemy state one day might be an ally the next. A defeated subjugated enemy is publicized as a clear and present danger with a shift in the news cycle. Today enemies and allies of the U.S. routinely shift seemingly to manipulate the discourse. The past two administrations have claimed Al- Qaeda was defeated in furtherance of their agendas only to proclaim within a short time that Al-Qaeda is still a serious threat. During the so called Arab Spring the U.S. abandoned long standing allies denouncing them as dictators. The U.S. backed long standing enemies only to denounce many of these groups later. The shifting allegiances and threats distract the U.S. population from focusing on the erosion of its freedoms as well as its standard of living.
In 2009 the U.S. government and its sympathetic if not state controlled media implemented an aggressive Newspeak campaign in an attempt to use the politics of naming to eradicate certain language from the nation’s lexicon. The term “terrorism” was replaced by “man caused disasters” and terrorist attacks domestically on military personnel were referred to as “workplace violence”. Moreover the government and media determined that no human being should be labeled as illegal. Illegal aliens are consequently referred to as “undocumented guest workers”. The manipulation of the language is analogous to the Party’s Ministry of Truth where Big Brother edits and publishes the Newspeak Dictionary eradicating words that lead to thought crimes.
The NSA surveillance that was been exposed by the thought criminal Edward Snowden is reminiscent of Orwell’s world where the Party monitors every citizen to determine if they are a threat. The two way video screen in every home in 1984 is nearly a reality with the intelligence communities purported monitoring of citizen’s phone calls, online activity and many other aspects of their private lives under the guise of national security to identify those among the population that may cause society harm.
George Orwell accurately predicted many of the controversial and dangerous homeland security issues being debated and used by the U.S. government in 2014. Over the past 14 years the U.S. government has steadily implemented programs that are eerily similar to the policies of Big Brother’s Party. It appears that 1984 may be a blueprint for the architects of the post 9/11 security culture as many of the Party’s tactics are being used today under the guise of homeland security.
American society may be on the brink of Orwell’s envisioned totalitarian state. The citizens of the United States as well as the honest and hardworking homeland security professionals must examine the moral framework of the modern security culture to ensure that America remains a free and open society and that United States homeland security continues to serve and protect the people.
