In the classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell describes a totalitarian society in which the government has complete control over its people through means such as the widespread use of propaganda and the unfathomable power of their leaders. In the context of this discussion "our world" will refer to North America. Our world is not far from becoming a totalitarian society because of the circumstances that make our realm similar to 1984. In both worlds, our channels of information are controlled, our day-to-day activities are monitored, and our rights and freedoms are restricted.

Nineteen Eighty-four's government named "Big Brother" controls all forms of information much like how our channels of information are controlled. By doing this our dominators hold more power over society. There are media barons that exist in our world who are very similar to Big Brother, and this small group of people control what the rest of us get to hear, read, or watch. These few individuals have an incalculable influence in many lives. The purpose of controlling the flow of information is to gain power over the population.

Knowing that political leaders seek control over us should no

t surprise us, for governments this is an evolutionary thing, and it has only one direction to evolve: towards more control (Slave 1999).

Our Democratic Illusion is truly a Totalitarian Reality where a few individuals who own a high concentration of media manipulate what we are allowed to know about. The exploitation of our media by those individuals should not be tolerated anymore, but it may already be too late to cease the utilization of our channels of information in this manner. Much like the world of Nineteen Eighty-four it is too late for those citizens to fight their own media barons, the "Party". Peoples' history and information are recorded and used for any purposes the government or corporations desire. This invasion of our privacy is an offense to our rights and individual liberties, similar to Big Brother's reprehensible method of repressing its citizens. Rights and freedoms are trampled over by the leaders we trust to enforce them, which clearly shows the governments hypocritical view of our rights. Our freedom only exists as an illusion, so our leaders can control us, this is the same as Oceania's method of using propaganda to maintain stability in their country. The possibility that our world becomes totalitarian seems less fictional with each passing day, writers like George Orwell make us aware that this reality is coming true.

In our society we have the political freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and association. However, these ideals which are guaranteed to us by our constitution are not always protected. Sometimes they are trampled over by the very people who should help us in defending them, the government. When former president Suharto of Indonesia came to Canada for the APEC summit, peaceful student protestors were attacked and pepper sprayed by RCMP officers. Many people suspect that Prime Minister Jean Chretien may have had some influence in this course of action. This police response jeopardized the rights of ordinary citizens and showed the hypocritical characteristics of the government.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1385
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)