English

1984 (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

Author: George Orwell Publication Date: June 1949

2026-04-01 2 min read Sincheenz

Finally, got around to reading this book, and I must say I enjoyed it more than I expected. I was primarily motivated to read it because my 17-year-old son had read it and was very impressed and intrigued by it. This got be curious and I must say there is so much material for discussion. Given the current geopolitical scenario, this should be read to understand why a multi-party democratic system is necessary.

The book was written in 1948 by George Orwell, a time when people had lived through and witnessed the horrors of totalitarian regimes. Even more concerning was that not all of it had disappeared and still existed in many parts of the world, even when the war was over.

The author wanted to make people aware of what could go wrong when governments control everything. There is no privacy, there is thought control, history is constantly rewritten, and facts are modified to align with propaganda. This “make-believe” of stability and order - what could it lead to if not questioned? “Those who control the past control the future”, that is the core message.

Many often don’t pay attention to history, saying “let bygones be bygones.” But we need to revisit and reexamine it, even when times and conditions have changed, just to make sure we are not making the same mistakes again—only differently and that they will affect us all the same in the short or long run.

It also highlights why we need privacy acts and data protection laws in 2026, and why it is important to question everything we are accepting when using social media and the internet. Nothing is free—what you are not paying for with cash, you are providing with data. How is this data being used? Fortunately, we are increasingly being informed about how corporations use data to manipulate our decisions and choices, yet convenience often triumphs over caution, and we ignore this fact. But can it get out of hand? Will we start accepting more than we should? Will 2 + 2 become 5 😊? I hope we never reach a point where we must accept that.