8. The Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing.
9. CCTV in the U.K.
A CCTV survey disclosed that Britain has one security camera for every eleven people. This is real and it is happening now. Big Brother really is watching you.
10. Newspeak is eerily similar to textspeak.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Newspeak as: noun, Usage: often capitalized. Propagandistic language marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings.
11. The Perpetual War
From 1984: A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war.
The slogan of the corrupt ruling class in George Orwell’s 1984 is ‘War is Peace,’ meaning that the government could exert control over the population by keeping them in a constant state of hatred and fear of the enemy. Since we are a nation at perpetual war ourselves, this is quite enlightening. And sad.
12. Edward Snowden and the NSA scandal.
Sales of 1984: Centennial Edition shot up 7,000% in the days following the Snowden leaks. We have to wonder, what else was Orwell right about?
