Locate an image of the future that was developed before 1990 - Essay Example

An Image of the Future Goodman was describing a totalitarian society which he asserts conforms with both the antiterrorist provisions of the USA Patriot Act of 2001, as well as George Orwell’s vision in his novel 1984. Very few people are not familiar with the Orwellian view of a futuristic oppressive government that monitors its citizens’ actions and arrests people on the basis of thought ‘crimes’. More recently, the proposed cybercrime law and the use of drones to assassinate citizens suspected of plotting against the government based on mere suspicion (Bergen & Braun,2012) drew as much backlash.

Orwell’s vision, written in 1948, originally pertained to some future indeterminate time, but the publishers thought to use a more catchy title and reversed the last two digits of the year of writing. The vision truly conformed with the two postulates proposed by James Dator: first, that ‘the future cannot be studied, because the future does not exist’; and second, that ‘any useful idea about the future should appear to be ridiculous from today’s point of view.’ (NRC, 2010, p.31).

That a see-all-know-all government did not exist in 1948 was apparent because the enabling technology was not yet available. It was also considered extremely unlikely, even outright ridiculous in the post-war Western democracies, since 1984 was considered little more than ‘a [part of the] mythology of our culture’ (Chatfield, 1975, p.947). I interviewed my high school literature teacher, who at 77 years could recall the exuberance of the post-war era. After we won the war, he said, there was a fierce pride in our freedoms as inalienable and incontestable, so the thought that people will tolerate a “Big Brother” was ludicrous.

It was possible, though, that 1984’s image of a totalitarian society was suggested by the rise of socialist states and the threat of communism. Unlike my teacher, I feel Orwell’s society is possible, since the technology is already available and the governments of the world are already encroaching on human rights. Images of 1984 as construed in the fifties, and the updated counterpart images evoking the same are shown below. Orwell’s vision is, as Dator’s theory states, just one of many possible ‘futures’ – pertaining to the possibility that the threat of communism shall triumph over America’s status quo; it is at best a ‘what-if,’ allowing for a ‘what-if-not.

’ How the choice made among alternatives is therefore crucial. The perceived alternative futures may possibly turn into self-fulfilling prophecies unless active policy-setting and intervention takes place. “Future studies tries to increase the efficacy of long-range planning, through the development of significantly different alternative futures’ (Dator, 1981, p.1). It is the cornerstone concept of futures studies, therefore, that people, through their leaders and institutions or even in spite of them, can control their future through planning and vigilance.

Therefore, constitutional guarantees in the bill of rights, judicial use of legislative processes and open debate in a free society should balance any attempts are imposing the futuristic Orwellian totalitarian regime – which is, after all, one of many alternatives for the future.Wordcount = 500 excluding title, references and appendixImages related to “1984,” past and presentEarly edition book cover, from http://skew.dailyskew.com/2008/03/skew-review-orwells-1984.htmlScene from “1984” The Movie, based on George Orwell’s novel of the same title.

The eyes and ears of Big Brother Images from https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Futuristic+novel+1984+George+Orwell&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=y59NUaeTO66ciAe92ICQDg&biw=1351&bih=540&sei=WKBNUbzUB-bmiAeE_oCgCw#imgrc=WsydLF-zOIOh0M%3A%3BCUJveTQx1XiGcM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F-m-Iq2L2Pxos%252FTz3wnDcIGHI%252FAAAAAAAAA7c%252FFMRtHuh_l-4%252Fs1600%252Fcamerras.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fendoftheage.blogspot.com%252F2012_02_12_archive.

html%3B460%3B278References:Bergen, P & Braun, M 2012 ‘Drone is Obama’s weapon of choice’ CNN. Retrieved 22 March 2013 from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/05/opinion/bergen-obama-droneChatfield, J 1975, Orwell and the Left./ George Orwell and the Origins of 1984, National Review, 27, 33, pp. 946-947, Military & Government Collection, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 March 2013.Committee on Forecasting Future Disruptive Technologies 2010 Persistent Forecasting of Disruptive Technologies – Report 2.

National Research Council. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.Dator, J 1981 ‘Alternative futures & the futures of law.’ In J Dator & C Bezold (eds.), Judging the Future pp.1-17. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.Goodman, D 2001, Orwells 1984: The Future Is Here, Insight On The News, 17, 49, p. 22, Regional Business News, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 March 2013.