Is our society free from totalitarianism' traces?

One of the most relevant novels in history written by George Orwell was 1984, based on political issues are shown the consequences of a totalitarian system. As you may know the story passes by in a futuristic London in the very same year of the title, and the reality and daily life there seems to be hopeless, the main power is in control of the “Big Brother” he represents the superior force who is always watching everybody and everything everywhere, his eyes are everywhere and there are thousands of pictures and posters of his face and his rough eye gaze. Ordinary people or as are referred to in the novel “the proles” are so under control, that they have no more options for living than the possibilities given for the ruler class, they are not even able to turn off the TV, which only passes the news that that the regulator party wants, the proles must be absolutely obedient in action and thought to what the party says, that is their main rule.

As I started understanding the story, and the ideas behind 1984 it was inevitable for me to make the comparison with The Hunger Games’ saga, I mean, from my point of view the story is completely based on 1984’s plot. And I mentioned this because before taking this course I never heard anything about Orwell’s work and I was a super fan of The Hunger Games’ saga, I though the books were awesome because they were very creative, BUT after meeting 1984 I realized they were not that creative either original.

Anyway, what called my attention from The Hunger Games was the fact that I thought that the reality shown there was no that distant from our reality, and I remember one class in which the professor said that no futuristic movie is about the future, but about the present which is exaggerated with elements of a possible future, in fact those movies represent stories from the very real and present world. And then I understood everything.

While reading 1984 and making connections with the real world, I thought, are we really living in a “free” society? After the greatest dictator’s governments in history, and apart from his followers, are we really “clean” of what that entire regimes meant?  I think we are not, and here are some proves according to me;

 I’ve been thinking about the types of cars that people drive, not everybody drives the same one, and despite the fact that we all have different likes, I believe the market force you to buy specific types of cars according to the money that you earn, therefore according to your social class and status. Because neither the prime minister, nor an executive is going to drive a model that is commonly used as a taxi, there are some types of cars that are “especially convenient” for taxi drivers and those are cheaper, but also there are some cars that are designed for the market for another type of clients according to their “needs” which means according to the money they can afford.

I’ve been also thinking about the news, I hate news, and despite the fact they are supposed to inform us about the main issues around the world, I have always thought that they are made to transmit whatever government wants. This situation is so graphically exposed in 1984 that it almost made me laugh, I mean, it is true, even when we are able to turn off, or to change the TV we can’t get rid of all the information that is bombarded, because every single channel passes the same pieces of news, and all of them are tragic, all of them are regulated by the powerful entities and they force us to believe what they say, because truth is what the government, or the case of 1984 the Party, wants ; In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.(Orwell, pg. 80)  Then  people are forced trust them,  because they based their power on the ignorance, since people are not aware of the total reality and they only know what the “Party” wants them to know.

Finally something that is exacerbated in the movie is the fact that the Big Brother is literally starring at people everywhere, and I take cases of public service offices, and teacher’s classrooms at public schools where a picture of the president must be present within, why is it so? From my point of view it is way of reminding people that they are constantly under surveillance, a way of saying “remember that in this society you are ruled by our power, and here is the prove” in other words "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" (Orwell, pg. 3). 

All things considered, and answering the question from the title, I honestly believe that our society is not free from totalitarianism' traces, we are still conditioned in every aspects of our life, and I concur with the idea that governments impose their power through fear, sometimes we do not realize about it, and we think that we are given options, but in fact we are only part of a major plan, and most of the times afraid of ghosts that do not exist.

Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games. 
United States: Scholastic Press, 2008.

George Orwell . 1984. 
United Kingdom: Harvill Secker, 1949.