....or is it?

The totalitarian world portrayed in George Orwell's 1984 truly is a terrifying one, where one's actions, thoughts, and desires are controlled and monitered by Big Brother. Once a single power has gained so much control over the world, even just a portion of the world, that they have the ability to control past, present, and future, there is no turning back. It is a scary thought, that once all people who had lived in a time before the rule of this power are dead, no one could know that things had once been better, no one could question the authority of this power which had been there all their lives, and no one could rebel. The thought that one generation could grow up knowing abseloutely nothing of the generation before them, and thus be likely to follow blindly any person who offers them a treat, is a scary thought. And what's scarier is that, to a degree, it is happening today. The last four words of Orwell's chilling and cautionary novel, "It means us too", offer a sort of warning to us. My interpretation of this phrase is of the importance of history, and the constant and diligent education of the youth of today. Nearly every day we hear of how NOW is the time for change, how NOW is the turning point in history, how we must act NOW to preserve a better future for our posterity. To the typical teenager forced to endure school for 35 hours a week, it seems like a lot of suffering now with no immediate payoff. But when we remember that the weight of countless future generations rests on our shoulders, isn't that worth something? For me, historical accuracy is something I treasure dearly. I cherish the oppurtunity I have been given at this time to learn anything and everything I want to learn, and to know with some amount of certainty that what I am learning in the history books is true. And so, I would like to express my appreciation for the people who write those dull and monotonous history textbooks. Because remember, children are indeed the future. The kids you see around you are, whether you like it or not, the leaders of tomorrow. But children need their parents, they need someone to guide them. So without the records of their parents and their parent's parents, would not they be leading blindly? It means us, too. Four powerful words, that had best not be forgotten.