In particular the whole of American life was organized around the cult of the powerful individual...
Following yesterday's post, it occurs to me that this post has aged remarkably well.
- Sid
Comments and observations on science fiction and fantasy.
In particular the whole of American life was organized around the cult of the powerful individual...
Following yesterday's post, it occurs to me that this post has aged remarkably well.
- Sid
WAR IS PEACE.FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
One of the interesting things about George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is that we do not witness the transition to the totalitarian state of affairs described in the book. We enter the dystopian future of Winston Smith in medias res, rather than observing the process whereby the world of Newspeak and Ingsoc comes into being.George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.As with the government of Oceania, one-time allies become foes, and foes become allies. Members of the inner circle are cast out and demonized: a role played in Nineteen Eighty-Four by Emmanuel Goldstein, once a member of the government and now the Enemy of the People, accused of crimes such as "advocating freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought”. (Remember Trump's announcement that the media is "an enemy of the people"?)
In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense.It seems unlikely, but then, they've certainly managed to nail the "ignorance is strength" part - once you have that, the rest must be easy.
Earl Bassett: We gotta run. We've got a schedule to keep.
Valentine McKee: Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me.
- Tremors
"Revolution is everywhere, in everything. It is infinite. There is no final revolution, no final number.
- Yevgeny Zamyatin