Orwellian Realities

The clock wound back to 1984 at exactly 9:01:58pm yesterday, April 5, 2005. Marcos seems to have powers like Sauron, for his spirit lives on. It’s like Martial Law again at the skunkworks. I’m only praying there’s no ‘interrogation.’

Things have been running like an animal farm, slowly turning into an Orwellian reality. Symantec says it’s spyware. Management says it’s security. The line that divides them is fine indeed. I can’t help but think of the irony of the situation, being in the media and all. Lolo’s probably rolling in his grave.

A ball and chain, with a steady cam attached (facing the subject in true Fear Factor style) is how management intends to address productivity issues. Don’t take this all too literally. I was about to snicker when my friend mentioned over the weekend how frightening the prospect of 1984 would be in reality. I’d have shrugged it off had it not so prophetically happened this afternoon. Big brother is watching, and I learned just how intently he was observing when I implemented the same means on my own surroundings just a few minutes ago. The beauty of advertising is that a product never really fulfills all it’s supposed to. It fulfills enough, however, to do the job.

So like our hero in the novel, I’ve decided to huddle into my little corner. It’s not invisible, but at least out of sight of prying eyes. Sure we’re guilty to some extent, but isn’t that something present in all offices? Privacy is a premium these days, and there are some things I’d rather hide, risking insubordinance, if need be.

I might have misinterpreted Joel, he himself a traveler of the same treacherous path, but how I understood it is that a writer in the modern age must learn to lead double lives. In one, a slave to the system, heeding to every call. Another, free in his own world (dancing in a field of daisies, if you fancy the image). At this stage, at least, he is free of the Academe. The institute has taught him well, but now he has the freedom to choose, or carve rather, his own path. The former shall support (quite comfortably) the latter as the ends of the spectrum are polar opposites when it comes to fiscal matters. I’m not sure how pride and dignity compute. I only hope they can be quantified by an integer point system, canceling each other out as they accumulate. Machiavelli would be proud.