Nineteen Eighty-Four question

What first came to mind for me was Nazi Germany. Especially when it came to the way the children were indoctrinated with the values of the Party, and to report on their parents if they wavered from their values (I likened them to the "Hitler Youth").

Even more interesting is today's incarnation of Big Brother -- through increased surveillance cameras in cities and buildings, as well as cell phones. With cell phones capturing our every move (wrong or right), and those moves being judged by others (virally). We have become our own Big Brother, just as in 1984.

Cristina wrote: "Admittedly I'm not yet very far into the book but I can't help but see parallels with various past and present regimes/governments/countries.

I definitely see the similarities with Stalinist Russi..."


I think present day U. S. is starting to resemble the book. We certainly have many leftist movements wanting more government control over our daily lives and then on the right, we certainly have people wanting more government control over our daily lives. Just because the two sides differ on what to control and how, doesn't mean they aren't equally reflected in 1984.

The book is a very prescient depiction of modern day US of A. The constant indoctrination? Check. The daily talk of war with the other? Check. The ceremonial praise of the military? Check. The constant monitoring of our lives by the government? Check. The submissiveness of the people to this way of life? Check.

Stalinist Russia in the 40s and 50s.

I keep thinking of 1984 when I look at the society I live in (North America, today). The mechanisms for mass surveillance are oddly reminiscent of those in Air Strip One.

When I read this book, I couldn`t thought just about past eras, but about a future to come, a postacpocalyptic future to come that anyone would like to live in (I hope).
But, of course, it also reminds me about URSS, the nazi goverment, etc.

Iran, mostly for the falsification of history and censorship.

Honestly I feel that way anywhere. There are cameras pretty much everywhere if you think about it. It feels like everyone is watching you, waiting for you to make a mistake so they can judge you. I can relate to Winston when he only felt safe in the room above the antique shop, i only feel safe at home but i promise I'm not depressed.

The USA.

When I read that book I divided the world map, all the time I had UK, Russia and Germany in my head. The era was post world war 2. I have this weird feeling that India is going to be the next.

ex-Soviet countries.

The United States of America resembles 1984 in more ways than I care to think about. Think about the 24 hour a day surveillance, endless war, Newspeak...it is all present and accounted for today. What is worse, is that so many Americans are okay with it.

Cristina wrote: "Admittedly I'm not yet very far into the book but I can't help but see parallels with various past and present regimes/governments/countries.

I definitely see the similarities with Stalinist Russi..."
In the recent past I would say :
Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and Maoist China
In the current world- North Korea

North Korea.

I find it interesting that many folk cite examples as (truly) diverse as North Korea and the USA as countries they think of when reading 1984. I think the reality is that virtually any country could turn into a '1984' state. It just takes the right circumstances, the right triggers and the 'right' person.
The whole point of 1984, I think, is that it does not actually matter which political ideology holds sway - right/left, communist/fascist, liberal/conservative. It is not the ideology which is dangerous per se, - it is the people in power who inspire the ideology and convince the people of the 'correctness' of their actions. I often wonder whether the Russian Revolution would have taken place or the Soviet Union have been created without Lenin and Trotsky and Stalin? Would Nazi Germany have got anywhere without Hitler and Goebbels? I know that is a bit of a simplistic view because social and political changes have their own momentum. We only have to see how Trump has gained such populist support by uttering noisy sound-bites which solve nothing in terms of the problems facing the world - to appreciate how momentum once won - can surge forward to results never anticipated. George Orwell believed in socialism - not the kind that Senator McCarthy described as being 'unAmerican' but the kind which genuinely sought a fairer and kinder world. He did not have much faith in people after his experiences in Spain and post WW2 and it is that which makes Oceania in 1984 a dark, bleak saddened world of betrayal and lost hope. Sadly there are many countries in the world today which show signs of drifting easily into that perilous state - for all the reasons others have listed on here. It is so easy to make people fearful, to make them not trust their fellow human beings - much harder to try and develop a more positive approach.