INSPIRATION
What does it mean when the name “Orwell” is mentioned in the news? Does it mean that fiction has become fact? Is America heading towards a totalitarian society?
These are the questions I asked myself when I began to carve out the framework for the topic of my thesis.
It was in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 that I developed a genuine interest about America and its domestic and political agendas. When the planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I was on my way to go to a class at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. What I remember about my state of mind on that day is that I was rather confused and unexplainably unmoved by what had happened. As it turned out later, my emotional passiveness was a shock reaction. It took me a few weeks to realize the disastrous events of that day.
At the beginning of October 2001 Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, came to speak at the University of Eau Claire. At that time I was a camera man for the campus TV station and I thought it would be a good idea to record Rothschild´s speech and make a little report for our weekly news show.
Rothschild talked very convincingly about the necessity to increase the American people´s awareness of how America´s foreign policy depends on a domestic policy which the Bush government would be aggressively imposing on the U.S.A. His speech had a crucial effect on me. I began to study the American mainstream media culture and was particularly interested in their presentation of America´s role in the world. Simultaneously I observed how almost all the government´s responses were declared to be in the name of patriotism and national security. Whether it was the war in Afghanistan or tighter domestic laws, the government demanded the unequivocal and unquestioning approval of the American people.
I began to realize that the government´s one-sidedness would not conform with the democratic value of free speech. I would begin to learn about totalitarian aspects in society that were indoctrinated by the government. [...]
Table of Contents
INSPIRATION
INTRODUCTION
1 WHY ORWELL?
2 PRELIMINARY PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
2.1 Dispelling the Myth
3 RISE OF SURVEILLANCE
3.1 McCarthyism
3.2 COINTELPRO
3.2.1 The “Church Report”
3.3 FBI Targets Civil Rights Movements
3.4 New McCarthyism
3.5 Why does New McCarthyism exist?
4 THE RAMIFICATION OF TOTALITARIAN ASPECTS GRANTED BY THE GOVERNMENT
4.1 The USA PATRIOT Act
4.1.1 My Personal Concerns about the USA PATRIOT Act
4.1.2 Attorney General John Ashcroft
4.2 The USA PATRIOT Act in more Detail
4.2.1 Diminished Constitutional Control
4.2.2 Guantanamo Bay
4.3 My Work with the ACLU at Columbia University
4.3.1 Campus Rally against the Patriot Act
4.3.2 New York City´s “Defend the Bill of Rights Campaign”
4.3.3 A Questionnaire
4.4 People´s Resistance against Totalitarianism in Fiction and Fact
5 EXAMPLES OF ORWELLIAN SURVEILLANCE
5.1 The TIPS Program
5.2 How Omni-Present Telescreens Almost Became Fact
5.3 MATRIX: Attempts for a Centrally Organized Surveillance System
5.4 Surveillance of Airline Passengers
5.4.1 CAPPS II
5.4.2 US-VISIT: The International Counterpart to CAPPS II
5.5 Military Spying on Civilians
5.5.1 Echelon
5.6 Surveillance Infers Security: A Fallacy
5.7 Truly Orwellian
6 THOUGHT CONTROL AND SUPPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH
6.1 The Government´s Aggressive Suppression of Individual Thought
6.1.1 Americans for Victory over Terrorism (AVOT) and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)
6.2 Patriotism: A Matter of Interpretation
6.2.1 Columbia: A(n) (Un)Patriotic University?
6.3 Project for a New American Century
6.4 Doublespeak: Free Speech Zones
7 THE SECRECY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS CONTROL OF THE NEWS
7.1 Freedom of information: The People´s Right to Know
7.2 Office of Strategic Influence
7.3 All the News that Fit in the Memory Hole
7.4 The Total Information Awareness Program
7.4.1 TIA´s Afterlife
7.5 Ministries of Truth
Objectives and Research Themes
The primary objective of this thesis is to critically analyze whether contemporary American society has adopted totalitarian characteristics in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, drawing parallels to the dystopian world of George Orwell’s 1984. The research investigates how government policies and rhetoric may erode democratic foundations and civil liberties.
- The impact of post-9/11 surveillance measures on individual privacy and constitutional rights.
- The role of government rhetoric and mass media in shaping public opinion and enforcing political conformity.
- The historical parallels between McCarthy-era tactics and modern-day counter-terrorism strategies.
- The erosion of judicial oversight and due process, exemplified by the USA PATRIOT Act and detention policies.
- The influence of nationalistic patriotism on the suppression of political dissent and free speech.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 McCarthyism
One dark chapter in American history can be found during the government´s systematic propaganda of fear from the so-called Red Scare before and especially after World War II under Senator Joseph McCarthy. “McCarthyism” is a term that has recently been given significant attention in the debates about the government´s infringement on civil liberties.
Established in 1937, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was supposed to oversee fascist activities; later on, during the rise of the Cold War, the Committee shifted most of its attention to the activities of what it considered to be communists. In 1947 the HUAC began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry. In September 1947, the HUAC interviewed 41 people working in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named several people who they accused of holding left-wing views. Emigrant playwright Bertold Brecht gave evidence and left for East Germany. Ten other actors were prosecuted on grounds of Contempt of Congress and imprisoned for between six and 12 months. Subsequently, the government created a blacklist with names of people who had been members of some leftist movement. The 320 on that list were stopped from working in the entertainment industry.
Summary of Chapters
WHY ORWELL?: This chapter contextualizes Orwell’s life and work, exploring how his 1984 serves as a critique of totalitarian regimes and how these themes remain relevant to contemporary social and political trends.
PRELIMINARY PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS: The author details his personal experiences in the U.S. post-9/11, documenting his observations of a shift in American society toward self-censorship and government-led paranoia.
RISE OF SURVEILLANCE: This section traces the historical context of American state surveillance, specifically examining McCarthyism and the FBI’s clandestine operations, such as COINTELPRO, and their impact on civil liberties.
THE RAMIFICATION OF TOTALITARIAN ASPECTS GRANTED BY THE GOVERNMENT: The analysis focuses on the USA PATRIOT Act, arguing that its broad legal framework allows for the infringement of constitutional rights and the expansion of unchecked executive power.
EXAMPLES OF ORWELLIAN SURVEILLANCE: This chapter highlights specific government programs like TIPS, MATRIX, and airport security measures to illustrate how technology is being used to foster a "surveillance society."
THOUGHT CONTROL AND SUPPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH: The author explores how government-backed organizations use propaganda to enforce patriotic conformity and intimidate dissenters, linking these modern practices to Orwellian concepts of thought policing.
THE SECRECY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS CONTROL OF THE NEWS: The final analytical chapter examines the government's efforts to control the flow of information through "news contamination" and the suppression of transparency, drawing parallels to the Ministry of Truth.
Keywords
Orwell, 1984, Totalitarianism, Surveillance, USA PATRIOT Act, Civil Liberties, McCarthyism, COINTELPRO, Government Secrecy, Censorship, Patriotism, Dissent, Propaganda, September 11, War on Terror
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental premise of this thesis?
The work examines whether the United States, following the events of September 11, 2001, has transitioned into a society mirroring the totalitarian characteristics depicted in George Orwell’s 1984.
What are the primary areas of investigation?
The research centers on the expansion of state surveillance, the influence of mass media in manufacturing consent, the suppression of political dissent, and the legal implications of the USA PATRIOT Act.
What is the central research question?
The research asks if the government's response to the war on terror—specifically regarding domestic surveillance and the control of information—is systematically eroding democratic foundations and civil rights.
Which methodological approach does the author use?
The author employs a comparative analysis, juxtaposing Orwellian literary concepts against documented historical and contemporary American political events, supported by interviews and primary research.
What is the focus of the book's main section?
The main part of the book analyzes specific government programs and legal frameworks, such as the Patriot Act, MATRIX, and various surveillance initiatives, arguing they represent a departure from established constitutional limits.
Which keywords best define this work?
Key terms include state surveillance, civil liberties, Orwellian, totalitarianism, political dissent, and the USA PATRIOT Act.
How does the author characterize the role of the media in the "war on terror"?
The author argues that the media plays a pivotal role in enforcing conformity by emphasizing evocative imagery over substantive information, thereby conditioning the public to accept government policies without critique.
What specific connection is made between historical surveillance and the present day?
The author connects the practices of McCarthy-era surveillance and COINTELPRO to the current "New McCarthyism," arguing that the current government is repeating historically discredited practices of spying on peaceful dissenters.
- Quote paper
- Magister Oliver Trenk (Author), 2004, Orwell's Oceania and the U.S.A. after September 11: Will Fiction Become Fact?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/29040
