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1984 – George Orwell

I am sad. 
This might be the most primitive statement anybody have ever said after reading 1984. But it is nonetheless true. 
I am sad. 
I am sad for the future of humanity. 
I am sad for the future of humanity because I know what Orwell predicts in his book doesn't seem quite unlikely to happen. The rise of a new kind of Totalitarianism that would be so overwhelming that it would have immunity against all kinds of puny revolutions. If anything the book made me count the blessings I have today and appreciate my world of existence for all its beauty and virtues. These were my first thoughts after finishing the book. I wrote it on goodreads.com right after I completed the book. When I read it again today, I am starting to feel that I have nothing more to add. 

All my feelings were perfectly captured in these few sentences. Because that was what the book was to me. To borrow words from the book itself "Imagine a boot stamping on a human face; Now imagine it is going to be like that for eternity; That is what the future of humanity looks like ". Like I said if that is what human life is going to look like in the future, lets count our blessings and be thankful for what we have today. 

Now see it's not like the dystopian world of 1984 is unrealistic. We have already achieved such surveillance capabilities. Who knows whether I am being watched by the Big Brother while I am typing this review through the laptop camera! It is entirely possible. If we are to believe Edward Snowden then it is already true. Yet we go on living our life. Like the proles. A population which is being kept numb by the social media. What? You don't think that is true. Ok then tell me when is the last time that you had an original idea about fixing a real life problem(political, economical or social). Cant recount much of that, huh. Well that's what happens when ideologies dominate the discourse. 

You see a problem in the Capitalist world, what is the solution? Of course, let's try socialism! Let' s give government maximum control of our lives and lets see what happens, right? Of course that could never go wrong! Even when we think we are protesting we are only protesting against the violence and oppression they want you to see. You march along with the masses thinking you are fixing a problem, thinking you are taking on the big bad guy. But what you are doing is becoming another instrument of the ideological war that has been intensifying ever since the information age began. 

Ideas long ago discarded are resurfacing. People long ago condemned as despicable humans are being celebrated today as heroes forgotten. Ideologies which had already proved their capacity for malevolence and tyranny are making a comeback. 

Not every problem is solved by loud rallies and riots. It is mostly solved by people doing the job they are responsible for as perfectly as possible. People de-escalating. People talking things through. But you can't talk with the other guy, if you think he is a monster. If the oppressed people of the 3 continents had known about how much alike they are, the regimes and their lies would have fallen. That was why they were prohibited from making any contact.

Yes the 1984 is very relevant today. And tomorrow. And the day after. It should be kept always as a reminder of what shall happen when ideologies take on a totalitarian form. A reminder of how bad things can go for humans if we are not careful. A reminder that there wont always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
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