In the Name of our Ford

I'm currently re-reading 1984 again. Seems like every time I get into the mood to read that book I'm always underway. It also seems that I keep drawing the same parallels between the world of Big Brother and our current state. Mind you, I don't mean to say that we are living in a "Negative Utopian" world, but the more the idea of "Doublethink".

We, the people, say we are free. But we give up our rights in the name of the Patriot Act. Tapping phones, fondling for screening at the airport, being treated like cattle, forcing to abide through sheer threats of being detained....it's all ok if it's for a great purpose (read: finding those anti-freedom terrorists). We have let the government take us hostage, like an overbearing mother with her precious offspring.

Warning: Opinion is expressed in the next paragraph.
I'm not anti-government at all. But when you have folks in congress that couldn't give two shits about someone that makes less money than they do (and they make a lot), then you have situations where their own military may go without getting paid.

That being said, it seems like there are too many parallels within 1984 and Atlas Shrugged for me to be comfortable with. If one doesn't find the cap and/or ability to control Internet connectivity, surveillance everywhere, the huge debt we're incurring, a blatant disregard from the high class that depends on the working class, and most of all...the insane dependence on oil.

Again, not anti-gov't, just upset with our situation.

Decadence is dependence...