I will let the author of books like Animal Farm and 1984, do the talking tonight. Although Orwell died in 1950 his words ring true today:
The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.
Yesterday I had what I would call an Orwellian experience. Someone who I had never met or communicated with acted like she knew me. I asked the person how she knew me and she said I read your emails. I said I never sent her an email but she said someone had forwarded parts of my personal emails to her and that anything on the web is fair game. She is right but it made me stop and think that I should be more careful what I write in emails and who I sent them to. I already know how easy it is to be misunderstood in an email. Now I realize how public they are even when they are private.
Technology makes possible continuous or endless war and the invasion of personal email. Technology can mean power but like power can be used for bad or good. George Orwell, like Thomas Merton or Mahatma Gandhi, saw deep into society and warned us of the dark side of technology, war and ‘big brother’ watching us.
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