Argumentative Essay On Argumentative Synthesis: 1984 And No Place To Hide

Introduction

George Orwell claims that the unbalanced things experienced in the world have the capacity of creating major strategies towards societies living in the world. Additionally, Orwell challenges the ability of the human’s hear to survive oppression because it was created in spirit of freedom and love. On the other hand, Glenn Greenwald presented the same argument as Orwell in his book “No place to hide.” Greenwald was politically motivated and argued focusing on national security. He is a journalist who narrated about the state of security in Hong Kong and also explores National Security Agency (NSA) work on surveillance and maintenance of security. Orwell played the role of an advisor to Greenwald.
Thesis statement: To what extent does Greenwald’s report substantiate Orwell’s warning? The work of Orwell and Greenwald forms the basis of this argumentative synthesis.

George Orwell’s 1984 and Greenwald’s No place to hide

Orwell warned future politicians and journalists to focus their time and efforts to fight terrorism in order to make the country secure. Presence of manipulation of language, surveillance tools, and rapidly growing technology reveals that the current society is ready to fight terror and insecurity with fewer efforts from political leaders. According to Orwell, the government introduced surveillance systems to cope war on terror and other risks capable of affecting the society. Everyone needs freedom in their own country, and the government has the duty of protecting its people from foreign aggression. On the other hand, Greenwald supported Orwell’s argument by first accusing the President of crime after ordering illegal eavesdropping. Law breakers are liable for their actions and should pay total prices. Greenwald claimed that some government officials are above the law and cannot be prosecuted because someone from nowhere raises concerns of impunity. People irrespective of their political position in the government have no right to choose between good and bad laws. Greenwald acted as a go-between Orwell by supporting that citizens cannot acquire freedom provided there is war in terror. In presence of such high rate of impunity, the betrayals, espionage, the tortures, the arrests, and executions will always be the order of the day (Orwell 575).
Greenwald’s argument substantial Orwell’s warning on democracy. Greenwald’s activities ensured he followed democracy practiced in Hong Kong during his stay in the country to avoid crimes. Orwell argued that individuality is the only way of preserving an efficient democracy. It was hard to practice democracy in the country where leaders are enemies of democracy (Orwell 89). Orwell used a godly vision to explain about the current happenings in the world. Leadership is a virtue that every politician must possess in order to take people through the correct path. The country has fought for democracy for a long period and leaders must understand it instead of focusing on their personal interests. A government lead by strong leaders inspires its citizens to better things. Orwell fails to understand why current leaders cannot use power to promote democracy and instead use it to gain avenues for more corrupt deals. Greenwald was an investigative journalist and understood all illegal activities happening within the government. He had access to many government secrets including security details but could not publish them because of regulations. However, he focused more on NSA and government surveillance where he discovered major unconstitutional activities going through without the knowledge of the public. Undemocratic acts practiced by elected leaders and top politicians interfered with the security and stability of the nation. On the other hand, a health democracy ensures accountability and government involvement in all agendas (Greenwald 770).
Orwell warned journalists from covering government activities that revealed cases of corruption and impunity. His claim demonstrated how the government prevented journalists from covering acts of impunity taking place and being practiced by top government officials. Greenwald was a journalist but did not have privileges to publish government information without thorough scrutiny by security officials. According to Orwell, the party used absolute power over the media and the public to cover up lies and other inhuman acts happening in the state. Journalists who could not follow rules and regulations set aside by the government would be eliminated. For example, Winston’s neighbor and workmate, Julia, were eliminated by the party. Winston and Julia published the book a “secret life” and “private life”. According to Greenwald, the government was always protecting its secrets making the decision-making process tilted in favor of publications that less criticizes its security deals. Additionally, the government had the capacity of taping all communications through the surveillance system. Journalists spreading government secrets to unwanted destinations would be easily intercepted and punished.
Orwell also claimed that humans have control over life at all levels and warned that those thinking they can suppress the government have their days numbered. He uses symbols to show readers that something imaginary exists and uses it to represent the current practices happening in the world. While speaking to Winston, Orwell gave evidence of what was happening. To prove that humans control nature, Orwell told Winston that the authority will catch and torture him for revealing secrets. Additionally, Orwell told Winston there were some principles and spirits that he could overcome (Orwell 579). Orwell’s arguments were evidence in Greenwald’s book about the journalists. Greenwald claimed that journalists would produce video tapes to the public contain government surveillance information without wondering of what would happen if the government finds out. Cincinnatus became close friends with Greenwald because he wanted to know government secrets. Cincinnatus was a powerful political symbol but always acted in public interest. As Orwell suggested to Winston, Greenwald also risked his liberty in order to give Cincinnatus top secret information from NSA (Greenwald 50).
Orwell warned that those investigating the government would be prosecuted and their names recorded for prosperity. He used poems to symbolize specific actions that would cause major impact to individuals. For example, Orwell stated a poem that spoke of how two people traded under the spreading chestnut tree. The two friends ended up in troubles. The poem signifies how journalists accuse one another of leaking government information claiming it was for the benefit of the country. Eventually, both are faced by the same case and prosecuted. Winston, Rutherford and Julia were arrested and charged with conspiracy and later executed. Greenwald’s novel followed Orwell’s warning because it focuses on how the government would not allow journalists to access secret information researched by NSA. Greenwald’s NSA reporting was expected to attract the attention of the justice department. Gabriel Schoenfeld advocated that some journalists were prosecuted for publishing secret information. Schoenfeld accused Greenwald of not working together with other journalists and called him professional apologist (Greenwald 776). Greenwald had read Orwell warning that interfering with government secrets calls for immediate murder.
Finally, Orwell warning about the future was highly substantiated by Greenwald. Orwell presented the future as a period of good life, unthreatening, and time of reassurance for Americans. During the period of 1984, the government practiced totalitarianism and the society had no hopes that one day there will be freedom. During that era, Orwell prophesied that democracy will become a rhetorical device, while peace will turn into war, and regression formed the only hopeful concept of reform. Political leaders used their powers for hostility proving Orwell’s claim that politics do not make good art. The warning helped Greenwald in regulating his publications and having hope that one day he will be able to freely publish his findings without intimidations. Greenwald argued that their publications were meant for American people and not terrorists as the government would claim. He knew that the Guardian had no bad history and used Janine, the Guardian Publisher, to report his findings to the public. Because Greenwald understood government regulations, he sought assurance from Janine that he would not be intimidated before releasing the report (Greenwald 285). Greenwald’s perseverance and humility made him launch his media organization, First Look Media.

Conclusion

The discussion has shown many instances where Orwell’s claims and observations helped Greenwald escape major effects from his investigations as a journalist. In his novel written in 1984, George Orwell developed a haunting setting of the near future. Orwell had a unique vision concerning the people living in a distant planet and related it to the present happenings in the world. His work acted as a warning to Greenwald who was a journalist and wanted to reveal government secrets. Greenwald followed Orwell’s advice, which made him evade many issues faced by journalists presently.

Works Cited

Greenwald, Glenn. No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the Nsa and the Surveillance State.
London: Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2015. Print.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. Internet
resource.