It appears that the police now have a device that can read license plates and check if a car is unregistered, uninsured or stolen. We already know that National Security Agency can dip into your Facebook page and Google searches. And it seems that almost every store we go into these days wants your home phone number and ZIP code as part of any deal. 

So when Edward Snowden -- now cooling his heels in Russia -- revealed the extent to which the NSA is spying on Americans, collecting data on phone calls we make, it's not as if we should have been surprised. We live in a world that George Orwell predicted in 1984. And that realization has caused sales of the 1949, dystopian novel to spike dramatically upward recently -- a 9,000% increase at one point on Amazon. com. 

Comparisons between Orwell's novel about a tightly controlled totalitarian future ruled by the everywhere-present Big Brother and today are, in fact, quite similar. Here are a few of the most obvious ones. 

Telescreens -- in the novel, nearly all public and private places have large TV screens that broadcast government propaganda , news and approved entertainment. But they are also two-way monitors that spy on citizens, private lives. Today websites like Facebook track our likes and dislikes, and governments and private individuals hack into our computers and find out what they want to know. Then there are the ever-present monitoring cameras that spy on the ordinary people as they go about their daily routine. 

The endless war -- In Orwell's book, there's global war that has been going on seemingly forever, and as the book's hero, Winston Smith, realizes the enemy keeps changing. One week we're at war with Eastasia and friends with Eurasia. The next week, it's just the opposite. There seems little to distinguish the two opponents, and they are used primarily to keep the people of Oceania, where Smith lives, in a constant state of fear, thereby making disagreement unthinkable -- or punishable. Today we have the so-called war on terror, with no end in sight, a generalized societal fear, suspensionof certain civil liberties, and an ill-defined enemy who could be anywhere, and anything. 

Newspeak -- the fictional, stripped-down English language, used to limit free thought. OMG (Oh my God), RU (Are you) serious? That's so FUBAR (Fucked Beyond Ail Recognition). LMAO (Laugh My Ass Off). 

Memory hole -- this is the machine used in the book to change or disappear embarrassing documents. Paper shredders had been invented, but were hardly used when Orwell wrote his book, and the concept of wiping out a hard drive was years in the future. But the memory hole foretold both technologies. 

So what's it all meant? In 1984, Winston Smith, after an intense round of "behavioral modification" -- read: torture-- learns to love Big Brother, and the difficult world he was born into. Jump forward to today, it seems we've willingly given up all sorts of freedoms, and much of our right to privacy. Fears of terrorism have a lot to do with this, but dizzying advances in technology, and the ubiquity of social media, play a big part. 

There are those who say that if you don't have anything to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of. But the fact is, when a government agency can monitor everyone's phone calls, we have all become suspects. This is one of the most frightening aspects of our modem society. _ Unless you spend your life in a wilderness cabin, totally off the grid, there is simply no way the government won't have information about you stored away somewhere. 

What this means, unfortunately, is that we are all Winston Smith. And Big Brother is the modem surveillance state.
who is in Russia?
Is Orwell a writer?
what type of a novel is it?
what do stores want?
who can see your face book?
can telescreens spy?
what is memory hole?
what is an example?
what technology did the hole talk about?
what is used to limit free thinking?
what is it called?
is there a way for you to stop the government from getting your info?
who is the books hero?
where does he live?
what does he realize?
who are they at war with?
what is Big Brother?
What do people fear?
Were Paper shredders there when Orwell wrote the book?
who hacks into our computers?
Edward Snowden
 Edward Snowden
Yes
Comparisons between Orwell's novel 
dystopian novel
 dystopian novel
home phone number and ZIP code
home phone number and ZIP code
National Security Agency
 National Security Agency
Yes
But they are also two-way monitors that spy on citizens, private lives. 
machine used to change or disappear embarrassing documents.
machine used in the book to change or disappear embarrassing documents. 
Paper shredders
Paper shredders
hard drive
hard drive
the fictional, stripped-down English language
the fictional, stripped-down English language
Newspeak
Newspeak 
Unless you spend your life in a wilderness cabin, totally off the grid,
Unless you spend your life in a wilderness cabin, totally off the grid, 
Winston Smith
Winston Smith
Oceania
Oceania
the enemy keeps changing
the enemy keeps changing
Eastasia and Eurasia
Eastasia and friends with Eurasia
the modem surveillance state.
the modem surveillance state.
terrorism
terrorism
Yes
Paper shredders had been invented, but were hardly used
governments and private individuals
governments and private individuals