Stephen Groening, University of Washington Seventy years ago, Eric Blair, writing under a pseudonym George Orwell, published “1984,” now generally considered a classic of dystopian fiction. The novel tells the story of Winston Smith, a hapless middle-aged bureaucrat who lives in Oceania, where he is governed by constant surveillance. Even though there are no laws, … Continue reading What Orwell’s ‘1984’ Tells Us About Today’s World, 70 Years After It Was Published