In 1949 George Orwell published a classic novel simply titled "1984". In the story, the main character finds himself in a world of relentless war and 24 hour surveillance of all citizens. He is opposed to the status quo and refuses to live in the mainstream matrix. He ultimately finds himself in big trouble as a result. What seemed like a progressive fictional novel is slowly becoming the norm in the current world we now live in.
Iraq and Afghanistan are endless wars with no end game strategy in place, much like the wars in "1984". The right wing in America claimed that the oil in Iraq would pay for the war there. So far the only thing paying for that war is the American people.
Osama Bin Ladin was allegedly killed, a hit which was ordered by president Obama. If Bin Ladin is indeed dead and gone, why are American troops still losing their lives on a daily basis in Afghanistan? Both of these conflicts were wars of choice that America chose to start, they are parallel to the ongoing wars in Orwells' book.
Now, in true 1984 fashion, The FBI, acting on behalf of The NSA (National Security Agency) ordered Verizon to turn over all data of phone calls originating in The United States for three months starting in April and ending in July. The data allegedly only documents the numbers that were called, the location of the calls, the time of the calls and the duration of the calls. If The NSA can access that kind of information, surely, they can listen to calls as well.
The order reads as follows: “It is hereby ordered that [Verizon Business Network Services'] Custodian of Records shall produce to the National Security Agency…all call detail records or ‘telephony metadata’ created by Verizon for communications (i) between the United States and abroad; or (ii) wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls,” the Guardian’s copy of the order reads. “This Order does not require Verizon to include telephony metadata for communications wholly originating and terminating in foreign countries.”
It is illegal for The NSA to spy on Americans even if they get a court order to do so. Spying on Americans is beyond the scope of what The NSA can do, however it is obvious that they are doing it anyway. The NSA has been getting phone logs for a long time, according to the law this is a crime. Data mining is not making us safer, if it were there would be arrest records of thwarted attacks on Americans that The NSA could use as proof to justify their actions. Those that represent the ruling class use the politics of fear to convince Americans that they should give up their freedom for security.
The leaked document, in fact, is labelled as an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a body whose powers were created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and then broadened after the September 11th, 2001 attacks, with the purpose of intercepting communications between foreign agents and those between enemies abroad and their agents within the U.S. Similarly, the NSA’s charter states that it focuses on interception and analysis of foreign communications, not those within the United States.
George Orwell was way ahead of his time in 1949. The term Big Brother made it's way into the lexicon by way of his book, and is still being used to this day. A relentless surveillance state is not just the stuff of fictional novels, it is indeed becoming a reality. This is not just the beginning of a new America, it is the beginning of a new world.