1984 #8

O'Brien, Winston, Julia, and countless other citizens of the distopian society in 1984 are members of the anti-party organization named "The Brotherhood". The goal of the Brotherhood is the ultimate demise of the Party. members of the Brotherhood must "give [their] lives [...] commit murder [...] betray [their countries [...]" (172) and ultimately sacrifice their entire lives to the rebellious society. In the world today, in reality, there exists a group of people who's beliefs are very similar to those of the Brotherhood. The hacker-activist ('hacktivist') group Anonymous works, very similarly to the Brotherhood, as an immeasurable entity who's goal is to bring down the system and protect individual rights. While the Brotherhood aims to bring down the oppression of the Ingsoc Party, Anonymous strives to maintain individual freedom and privacy on the expansive 'world' of the internet. The biggest connection between the two groups is their main ideas. The Brotherhood states that, "The Brotherhood cannot be wiped out because it is not and organization in the ordinary sense. Nothing holds it together except an idea which is indestructible" (176). Anonymous, likewise, adheres to the idea that "you cannot arrest and idea" (twitter.com/atopiary) as tweeted by Anonymous hackivist "Topiary" shorty after being detained for internet crimes (forbes.com). The appearence of groups like Anonymous can prove how society today is beginning to emulate the oppressive nature of the Ingsoc Party. Governments around the world, such as the United States Government, are wanting more and more control over their citizens. Actions of US organizations such as the National Security Agency and US bills such as SOPA and PIPA (internet regulation bills) show examples of governments wanting more and more control over their citizens, just as the Party did to Oceania (rt.com) (thomas.loc.gov). Actions of Anonymous and of the Brotherhood have doubleplusgood intentions in bringing freedom to citizens.


Sources:

-https://twitter.com/atopiary
-http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/07/27/scotland-yard-announces-lulzsec-hacker-topiary- arrested-in-u-k/
-http://rt.com/usa/news/nsa-whistleblower-binney-drake-978/
-http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.03261: