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Classic Remarks

Classic Remarks Redux: #5

#ClassicRemarksRedux – Thanks to the ladies at Pages Unbound for the prompts and inspiration.

See my intro post to find out more about my Classic Remarks Redux series. Thanks to the ladies at Pages Unbound for the prompts and inspiration.

Prompt #5 from Dec. 2, 2016: George Orwell’s 1984 is often referenced when discussions of privacy and oversight arise.  Do you think an Orwellian state could happen or is that overstating the case?

Here we are in 2022, and 1984, “Big Brother”, and “Orwellian state” are more buzzworthy than ever. Headlines, option pieces and hot takes abound. Arguments for and against us living in an Orwellian dystopia are easy enough to find. (Usually with one side accusing the other of not understanding Orwell.)

Meanwhile, is sure seems tech company have gotten more intrusive to our privacy then ever. A new lawsuit claims that Alexa is listening to you 24/7 (even when you are not speaking directly to your device) and targeting ads based on that info.

If you’ve read the latest terms of service for pretty much any social media platform you know everything you do is being monitored, the data agitated and sold.

China is using facial recognition to track it’s citizens. Fake news became a term in recent years.

It sure seems like certain tech companies and governments are working to build a system of control via surveillance and control of information.

My favorite take on this whole mess is this Tweet:

However, this is all happening out in the open and we are letting it happen. We are buying the devices that allow this kind of privacy intrusion to happen. Gladly signing up for platform after platform and just clicking okay instead of reading the terms. How many of us have phones that have location services on all the time.

But does all of this add up to an “Orwellian State?” Well no…

Check out this Ted-ed video for a very good explanation of why.

One reply on “Classic Remarks Redux: #5”

I also think we’re far from an Orwellian state, but it is very interesting how the infringements on our privacy seem to be ones we “agree” to (although, to be fair, there seems to be no alternative to agreeing to letting stores and social media track you). So perhaps that is what we have in common with some dystopias, that society wasn’t really against these things when they started because they didn’t seem “that bad”.

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