Could apply to both now
Originally 1984 was an attack on totalitarian communism but nowaday 1984 could be interpreted as a critique on the evolving corporatism. Corporatism is a blending of business/special interests/wealthy and government, a type of plutocracy.
Here's a brief summary of 1984:
Big Brother
Big Brother is not a real person. All-present as he is, all-powerful and forever watching, he is only seen on TV. Although his picture glares out from huge posters that shout, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, nobody sees Big Brother in person. Orwell had several things in mind when he created Big Brother. He was certainly thinking of Russian leader Joseph Stalin; the pictures of Big Brother even look like him. He was also thinking of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Big Brother stands for dictators everywhere. Orwell may have been thinking about figures in certain religious faiths when he drew Big Brother. The mysterious, powerful, God-like figure who sees and knows everything - but never appears in person. To Inner Party members, Big Brother is a leader, a bogeyman they can use to scare the people, and their authorisation for doing whatever they want. If anybody asks, they can say they are under orders from Big Brother. For the unthinking proles, Big Brother is a distant authority figure. For Winston, Big Brother is an inspiration. Big Brother excites and energises Winston, who hates him. He is also fascinated by Big Brother and drawn to him in some of the same ways that he is drawn to O'Brien, developing a love-hate response to both of them that leads to his downfall.
Plot
The plot has three main movements, corresponding to the division of the book in three parts. The first part, the first eight chapters, creates the world of 1984, a totalitarian world where the Party tries to control everything, even thought and emotion. In this part, Winston develops his first unorthodox thoughts. The second part of the novel deals with the development of his love to Julia, someone with whom he can share his private emotions. For a short time they create a small world of feeling for themselves. They are betrayed, however. O'Brien, whom Winston thought was a rebel like himself, is in reality a chief inquisitor of the Inner Party. The third part of the novel deals with Winston’s punishment. Finally he comes to love Big Brother. Generally, the plot is very simple: a rebel, a love affair with a like-minded, capture, torture, and finally capitulation. Apart from Julia, O'Brien, and of course Winston, there are no important characters; there is no attempt to create a range of social behaviour, and the complex personal interactions therein, all traditional concerns of the novel. Indeed, one of Orwell's points is that life in 1984 has become totally uniform. So the traditional novel would be unthinkable. In fact, Winston is the only character worth writing about; all the other characters are half-robots already. So one could say that the plot was built around Winston’s mind and life. This gave Orwell the opportunity to focus on the reaction of the individual to totalitarianism, love, and cruelty.
Political System
The Party
The Party of Oceania is made up of about 19% of the whole population of Oceania’s mainland. Generally, one could divide the Party into the Inner Party, which is comparable to the communist nomenclature, and the Outer Party. Winston Smith himself is a member of the Outer Party. The members of the Inner Party hold high posts in the administration of the country. They earn comparably much money, and there isn't a lack of anything in their homes, which look like palaces. The people of the Outer Party live in dull grey and old flats. Because of the war there is often a lack of the most essential things. The life of the Outer Party is dictated by the Party, even their spare time is used by the Party. There are so-called community hikes, community games and all sorts of other activities. And refusing participation in this activities is even dangerous. The life of a Party member is dictated from his birth to his death. The Party even takes children away from their parents to educate them in the ideology of Ingsoc. (One can find this also in the communist future plans.) The children are taught in school to report it to the Thought Police when their parents have unorthodox thoughts, so-called "thoughtcrimes". After their education, Party members start to work mainly for one of the four Ministries (Minipax, Minitrue, Miniluv, Miniplenty). The further life of a "comrade" continues under the watchful eyes of the Party. Everything people do is recorded by the telescreens. Even in their homes people have telescreens. Each unorthodox action is then punished by "joycamps" (Newspeak word for “forced labour camps").
http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/index.cgi/work/summaries/1984.html
