A fitting best-seller for 2017 is a novel written in 1948 called "1984." "Post-truth," "fake news," "alternative facts" — Big Brother would feel right at home among us.
Everybody knows who Big Brother is. He is the ubiquitous face of "the Party," whose totalitarian rule over a North Korea-like country called Oceania operates through a Ministry of Truth that in effect is a Ministry of Post-Truth.
Dark days lay ahead when "1984" appeared in 1949. Was author George Orwell a prophet? Nuclear war threatened and totalitarianism ruled half the globe, its fall and democracy's survival by no means assured. Was Big Brother the face of the future?
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.