Real Talk | Big Brother Isn’t Coming… He’s Already Here

Somewhere, George Orwell is either laughing darkly into his tea or screaming into the void—and honestly, both feel appropriate. I picked up 1984 again last night, thinking I’d casually revisit a “classic.” Spoiler alert: it didn’t feel like fiction. It felt like a damn news report.

Orwell wrote about telescreens spying on you—devices that watch and listen under the guise of entertainment. Fast forward to 2025, and tell me why my phone lights up every time I think about buying running shoes, even though I haven’t Googled a damn thing? Why does my smart TV feel too smart, and why is my fridge asking if I want to connect it to the Wi-Fi? Bro, you’re here to keep my leftovers cold—stay in your lane.

And let’s talk about Newspeak, the language designed to limit free thought. Sound far-fetched? Scroll through social media. Watch political debates where words like “truth” and “freedom” have been rinsed so many times they’re practically meaningless. Everyone’s “liberating” someone while simultaneously signing bills that strip away rights behind closed doors. Orwell warned us about doublethink—the art of believing two contradictory things at once—and here we are, nodding along while governments promise “economic freedom” by controlling every aspect of, well… everything.

Don’t even get me started on the Ministry of Truth. In 1984, it rewrote history to control the present. In 2025? Open your news app. Every headline feels curated to make you forget what happened yesterday. Reality bends depending on who’s funding the narrative. There’s no collective memory anymore, just a glitchy scroll of half-truths and polished propaganda.

We keep asking, “How did it get this bad?” But maybe the better question is: When did we stop noticing?

So yeah, if you haven’t read 1984 lately, do it. And if you’re already halfway through it, pour yourself a stiff drink and try not to panic. Just remember—Orwell didn’t write it as a guide. He wrote it as a warning.

And it feels like we hit accept on the Terms and Conditions without reading a single word.

~smy