1984

I read a great book last week- 1984 by George Orwell. It was written in 1949 and is a look at what the world may look like when we give all decision making power over to the government. The government in the book was called “Big Brother” and they made all decisions and “took care of you”. There were three groups in society- the Inner Party (the ruling class) the Outer Party- (those striving to replace the ruling party) and the Parols- The 80% of society being controlled by the small minority. Orwell talks about the latent power that the 80% hold. They have the ability to shake off their oppressors at any time they decide as a group to rise up. This has happened many times in history, and it is always a bloody situation. Why do we humans give such power to so few and expect them to “take care of us” when we know that the world does not work that way?

The main learning of the book for me was that it is much easier to protect our freedoms than it is to get them back once we have surrendered them. A very thought provoking book.