Fear of the Future: Cultural Survival

Abstract

Germans seem to have a quenchless thirst for number mystics. When the first of January 1984 rolled around you could almost hear the sighs of relief escaping from the different editorial offices around the country: At last the portentous Orwell year had arrived; at last all the accumulated anxieties with regard to computers, the invasion of the private sphere, and surveillance could be pinpointed — 1984 was at hand. Scenarios conjuring up the ghost of Big Brother had been prepared well in advance and book publishers, feature writers, and TV editors alike simply had to pull them out of their desk drawers and add the finishing touches for the cameras to start rolling. The pessimists were in their element.