We've all been enthralled with prophets through the ages.  Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce are my favorites.  But there's a new boy on the block and he's not a prophet per se, but an author.  Good old George Orwell wrote a book in 1949 entitled "1984" which I'm sure most of you have read.  50 years later his prophecy is coming to pass.

Sure, this subject has come up a lot lately.  Many people are making comparisons of George Orwell's police state and current events.  But it had been a while since I read it and decided to give it another read.  We used to laugh at the phrase "Big Brother is watching you".  Now it's not quite so funny.  It's all been very subtle and has taken time to progress thus obscuring its presence and inevitability.

Cash transactions are becoming a thing of the past.  Most transactions are conducted by credits and debits with the use of magnetic strip cards or Social Security numbers.  These transactions are all monitored.

Countries are uniting into mega countries.  What was once 200 individual sovereign countries is fast becoming 3-4 mega unions.  The European Union was the first such union.  Now they're talking about a North American Union.  National currencies are replaced by Union currencies.  National sovereign power is ultimately being transferred to the power and control of the Union.

Personal identification is being transformed from "papers, please" to retina scans, mandatory DNA samples and ultimately into scannable computer chips being inserted into our bodies upon birth.  ("For the good of the child", they'll say).

Surveillance cameras are everywhere imaginable and the film can be confiscated by law enforcement agencies at will...street corners, restaurants, stores, bars, etc. (Ask anyone living in London about the coverage of public place security cameras...and this was before the subway bombings).  The next step is that they must be installed in our homes and a direct feed from ALL cameras must be provided to the proper authorities.

Illegal search and seizure is a commonplace occurrence, as is illegal detainment.  But because we've been brainwashed that it's for our own good, we've become immune to its implications.  You can't blame the terrorists and 9/11, this trend has been going on for 20 years.  Now there's an excuse to accelerate it.

Of course all of these modern "conveniences" are being attributed to the godawful excuse of the "common good".  And as lambs to slaughter, we are all buying into it.  As we blankly stare at our sitcoms, the power, money and control over our lives is being funneled into a tiny handful of people and ultimately to one world leader with full authority over what happens on this planet.  This isn't science fiction.  This is happening quietly today right under our noses.  I think they took their lessons right from the book.

I would urge all to give that book a second read and start to take note of what's happening around you.  We can change it, but first we must recognize it for what it is.