This essay compares today's society, specifically since the birth of the Patriot Act, to that of Orwell's 1984.

The new programs implemented by President Bush in order to protect Americans and discourage terrorist behavior have made evident the similarities between modern American society and Orwellian socialism as described in 1984. The Patriot Act has been the most significant of these post-9/11 measures. Americans' fear of economic decline and terrorist activity has allowed the government nearly free reign to disrupt the delicate system of checks and balances, expand their powers of surveillance and to declare …

…to Iraq in a matter of months, the government has asked its citizens to accept the "loose at best (Herman 2)" ties between the two. With the establishment of the Patriot Act came the furthering of America's desensitization to government intrusion. This numbing of American society, although not yet to the extent of 1984, has increased exponentially in the last year. If notice is not taken, our society could become much like Orwell's in the near future.