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JohanaRojas
Mr.Jacobo
PoliticalStudies
17February2016
PowerinKnowledge:CanWeTrustCompanies?
InformationisnotknowledgeaphraseonceutteredbyAlbertEinstein.
1984
isaprime
exampleofasocietyruledbyatotalitariangovernmentthatfeedsitscitizensfalseinformationto
fittheirpoliticalagenda.
1984
accuratelyportrayshowonlytheelitewillhaveaccessto
knowledgeanditiseffectiveinitscritiquetowardshowinformationcanbealtered/censored,
however,Orwellfailedtopredictthatitwillbecorporationswhodotheediting/censoring,not
thegovernment.
Inthenovel,Oceaniaisastatewith3distinctclasses,theInnerParty,whichconsistsof
thepeoplewhoarerichandpowerful,theOuterParty,workersfortheInnerPartyandfinally
theproleswhoareimpoverishedthroughoutthenovel.TheInnerPartymembersaretheonly
oneswithaccesstoanytypeofunalteredinformationaboutthecountrytheylivein.LaterI
shallsendyouabookfromwhichyouwilllearnthetruenatureofthesocietywelivein,andthe
strategywhichshalldestroyit.(Orwell174).OBrien,amemberoftheInnerParty,wastheone
whopossessedGoldstein'sbookabouttotalitarianismandtheuseoftheparadoxicalslogansthat
wereingrainedineveryone'sminds.Thebookinquestionexplainshowthecountrycametobe
andwhythegovernmentiseffectiveinholdingcompletepowerovertheircitizens.Noonebut
theInnerPartyknewaboutthebooksexistencewhichmeantthatonlytheupperclasswas
knowledgeableaboutthesocietytheylivedin.TheprolesandOuterPartywerekeptignorant


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andfedonlyinformationtocluttertheirmindbutnotmakethemthinkinordertokeepthem
subduedandeasilymanageable.Intoday'ssocietyabout40percentofnewscoverageisabout
thelatestcelebritygossip,whilepolitics,educationandinternationalnewsareallonlycoveredat
5percent(TooMuchCelebrity).Thesenewscorporationsarecoveringpointlessstoriesthat
keepusignorant,insteadofinformingusaboutthecurrentissuesintheworld.Themassesare
beingkeptignorantjustlikein
1984
byclutteringuptheirmindwithcontentthatisnotcrucialto
theirlives.
Orwell'scritiqueonthevulnerabilityandcredibilityofinformationisaccurate.Inhis
noveltheMinistryofTruthwasinchargeofrectifyinganydocumentthatthegovernment
wanted.Themessageshehadreceivedreferredtoarticlesornewsitemswhichforonereason
oranotheritwasthoughtnecessarytoalter(Orwell38).Theybasicallychangedthe
informationtheywantedandsentitouttothemasseswithoutanyonenoticing.Thismakesus
questionifinoursocietysomethinglikethiscouldoccur,andthefactisthatitalreadyis.AT&T
censoredPearlJam'sconcertdespitenothavinganyprofanity.Thefrontmanoftheband,during
aliveconcert,decidedtochangeoneofhislyricstoGeorgeBushfindyourselfanotherhome
(Roberts).ThisclearlyshowsnouseofprofanityyetAT&Tcensoredthebandbecausetheytook
apoliticalstanceagainstthepresident'sactionsduringtheIraqWar.
Unlike
1984
,intoday'ssocietyitisnotthegovernmentwhoeditsorcensorsdocuments,
itispowerfulcorporationswhodo.In2007Verizondecidedtocompletelycutaccesstoatext
messagingprogramthatthe
NationalAbortionandReproductiveRightsActionLeague
(NARAL)usedtosendkeepincontactwiththeirsupporters(WhatIsNet).Thisbreachofthe
firstamendmentangeredalotofpeopledespitehavingVerizonissuetheirstanceonthematter


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sayingthattheywouldnotserviceaprogramforagroup
"
thatseekstopromoteanagendaor
distributecontentthat,initsdiscretion,maybeseenascontroversialorunsavorytoanyofour
users
.Itisnotacorporation'srighttotakeawayourfreedomtoexpressorfollowagroupthat
weagreewithpolitically.Verizon,howeverisnottheonlycompanytohavecensoredapolitical
group.In2005theCanadiancompanyTelusblockedaccesstoasiterunbyaunionthatwason
strikeagainstthem.Byprohibitingtheaccesstothesitetheunionwouldnotbeabletopublicly
voiceouttheirgrievancesagainstthecompany.Corporationshavetriedtosilencethepeople's
voicesandwemustnotletthem.
AlthoughOrwellwasaccurateindisplayinghisconcernovertheaccessibilityand
credibilityofinformation,hedidnottakeintoaccountthatunlikeinhisnovel,thegovernment
wouldtakenopartinit.SocietytodayistoobusykeepingupwiththeKardashiansinsteadof
keepingupwiththeworld'smajorissues.Thistypeofsocietyisharmfulbecausefuture
generationswillgrowignorantandapathetictotheissuesplaguingtheworld.Evenifsociety
triestostayknowledgeabletheywillhavetofightagainstcorporationswhodecidewhattheycan
orcannotview.Thishowevershouldnotdiscourageanyonefromkeepinguptodatewithwhatis
goingonintheworldbecauseafterallknowledgeispower.


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WorksCited
Roberts,Michellle."AT&TCensorsPearlJam,ThenSaysOops."
Msnbc.com
.Associated
Press,09Aug.2007.Web.23Feb.2016.
"TooMuchCelebrityNews,TooLittleGoodNews."
PewResearchCenterforthePeople
andthePressRSS
.N.p.,11Oct.2007.Web.26Feb.2016.
"WhatIsNetNeutrality?"
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion
.N.p.,n.d.Web.23Feb.2016.
Orwell,George.
1984
.N.p.:n.p.,n.d.Print.