“1984” vs. Today
Last week I wrote about how the US government is surveilling its citizens, looking for “violent extremists.” In many cases the definition of the term has been expanded to include citizens that you and I would most likely agree are just regular folk.
This subject got me thinking of George Orwell’s 1984. We all probably read it in high school so, for me, that was 50 years ago and I’ve forgotten a lot of the details.
I got to wondering, how much of “1984” has come true. A lot it would seem.
In the limited space of these 800 words, it’s really difficult to examine a subject at great depth. I hope this gets you to start thinking about our society in the light of 1984.
Surveillance
In Orwell’s 1984, there are telescreens everywhere, as well as hidden cameras and microphones. Nearly everything you would do is watched and heard. We even learn that the watchers have become expert at reading people’s faces. The organization that oversees all this is called the Thought Police.
If it sounds far-fetched, you can look at last week’s story and also how big tech companies here in the U.S. are tracking people’s movements and activities to the extent that they are often able to know in advance what people will be doing. Even more alarming, these companies are increasingly able and willing to use the information they compile to manipulate people’s thoughts and decisions. Much of this is through social media but it’s been acknowledged that Google modifies search results based upon a person’s activities.
Rewriting History
One of the themes in 1984 concerns the rewriting of history. Big Brother and the Party would rewrite history in order to maintain power over the people. “Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”
There are many examples of this today in politics. Statues are torn down, writings such as the New York Times’ 1619 Project promotes the teaching that slavery, not freedom, is the defining fact of American history. The American Civil War is whitewashed (no pun intended) by the removal of the Confederate Flag. Mayors order the bulldozing of Confederate monuments.
Newspeak
In 1984, Big Brother and the Party developed the idea of “newspeak” to manipulate how the people thought. Newspeak was a language that allowed the Party to control the people’s minds. It made it harder for the people to have their own beliefs and knowledge. As a result, newspeak would control how the people thought. An example of this today is the replacing of the word “equality” with “equity”. The change of terms is intended to manipulate public opinion for political purposes and alter how we perceive things in the world.
A few other examples of newspeak euphemisms:
Justice. A way to force equity.
Incarcerated individual. A prisoner.
Revenue enhancement. A tax increase.
Regime change. Overthrow a government.
Downsize. Fire employees.
Thought Crime
1984 also introduced the idea of “thought crime” — which involves believing in something other than whatever the party line happens to be. Cancel culture is an example of this today. For example, Dorian Abbot, a renowned scientist, was supposed to give a lecture at MIT titled “Climate and the potential for life on other planets.” However, MIT rescinded their invitation to Abbot when they learned that he opposed affirmative action. In defense of their action, MIT declared, “Words matter and have consequences.” Abbot was found guilty of a thought crime.
Perpetual War
In 1984, “Oceania” was always at war. The object appeared to be to keep the public from questioning the government, since the government was fighting an enemy.
Maybe the object is different now, but we’ve seen the “war on Drugs,” the War on Terror,” the war in Afghanistan, the war in the middle east and others for something like 40 years.
Fake News
This is not a recent phenomenon.
In 1984 the telescreens emitted continuous government propaganda.
In today’s digital age, fake news and alternative facts have become the new norm. In fact, it is so common on Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg is working with experts to create strategies to fight it. Twitter bots are actively spreading fake news, even while other bots are being employed to prevent this. There is more information available than ever and yet we constantly have to question its veracity and validity.
We can’t always tell real news from fake news, especially when both sides are accusing each other of being the ones who are purposely spread false “facts” in an effort to misguide the public. In the absence of readily verifiable evidence, when the leaders of the society are providing the information, it is almost impossible to know what is real and what is made up.
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It seems to me that as our federal government becomes increasingly powerful, forces within the government have a greater opportunity to try to control us to help themselves retain power and control.
What do you think?