2084

For decades, we’ve been debating the horrific dystopian world depicted by George Orwell in 1984. I particularly remember the old reassuring adage: putting the Party controlling machinery in place would be unfeasible because of technicalities. Too many cameras, too much maintenance, too many people required to be “on the other side”, constantly watching and monitoring. The failed real-life example of East Germany spoke for itself, they said. Then, a revolution driven by technology changed the paradigm. The transition into a surveillance state is happening under our noses, not with the brute force of an Orwellian dictatorship. Ushered in gradually, and initially packaged as convenience, it’s been sold to us as “modern capitalism”. Two crucial differences with 1984: first, people are sharing their lives voluntarily, trading privacy for the fleeting benefits of some form of connection, or most likely in exchange for a present-time version of the “15 minutes of fame”: a viral post, a meme,…