How is the book Nineteen Eighty-Four like the world today?

Question:say... like.. stuff like the patriot act, or telescreens to watch people.
Please I need more, I have no idea in what other ways is the world of 1984 is similar to ours.
I've always lived under a rock.

comparing life in Oceania to life in our modern society what similarities are between Oceania and our modern times

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: say... like.. stuff like the patriot act, or telescreens to watch people.
Please I need more, I have no idea in what other ways is the world of 1984 is similar to ours.
I've always lived under a rock.

comparing life in Oceania to life in our modern society what similarities are between Oceania and our modern times

As I was reading 1984, one of the first similarities that I noticed was the treatment of the arts, such as music. I don't wish to be taken as saying that a particular type of our music today is bad in and of itself... but it struck me in the book that they mass-produce a song, which is widely accepted by the populace out of ignorance, despite the fact that the song is not "good" in respect to the quality of either lyrics or music. It is popular because it is catchy. People have forgotten how to discriminate between the beautiful and the common.

Another similarity I've noticed is selfishness and self-centeredness. Even as the world gets more and more "unified," individuals tend more and more to focus only on themselves, and perpetuating their own careers. They have no sense of duty and love for others. Children betray their parents, husbands and wives don't even make a pretense of caring for each other. Even lovers, whose passion is their own choice, end up acting for their own good. The object of man's duty and love is no longer his neighbor; it is the abstract idea of society.

Under "Big Brother's" thumb, is where we are at today.Due to crime,gang,drug activity they do this for our own good, cause we don't know how to act responsibly.

I would look at the political system, who argues for what is right, who thinks they are right, and what language do they use against people who are 'wrong.' (Do they call them evil, bad, in error, etc.?)

Also, 1984 was against the idea of a political system that controlled everything. The more politics there are, the less 'human' people are. The real societies seem to be ones that are less urbanized for Orwell. That's why peasants have a chance, not 'real city people.' Today, 'highly cultured and educated' people think, just like the 'bad' people in that book, that there is no way to escape certain societal facts. ie. we MUST globalize/we were ALWAYS at war with Eurasia, capitalism is the only way to live a happy life today/people are glad to have the government control them and brainwash them, etc.