If Bob Dylan lived in a certain country and wrote Masters of War today, he would be arrested for "spreading rumours" and be given 20 years in a "vocational training centre". These days the weapon of choice is "1984" technology. It is used for extensively for surveillance, lying, brainwashing, concealing the truth - to control of the masses. Tyrants such as Hitler, Mao, Leopold or Stalin could have done their evil deeds far more efficiently in a cashless society where everyone is ID'ed and monitored.
A few years ago, an ex-colleague of mine was running a major IT company in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe stole all the money out of my friend's company and private bank accounts (he is white), sending my ex-colleague immediately broke and out of business. He and his family were forced to flee Zimbabwe. Mugabe's theft was done easily and digitally - a press of a few buttons on a keyboard. This could happen to anyone who is considered by a tyrannical regime to be "an enemy of the state".
1984 has arrived.