Subscribe to A Cry for HelpI finished up 1984 yesterday, and the copy I had included an afterword, written, I think, in the 1960s. The message of the afterword was that reading 1984 as only a denunciation of Stalinism (which would be the most obvious interpretation, and indeed one of Orwell's main intentions) was to miss a more important point: western culture could be headed for the same future as the communists, just via a different route. I forget who wrote the afterword, but I wonder what his thoughts would be today.
Instead of Emmanuel Goldstein, we have Osama bin Laden's face adorning giant TV screens, gladly collecting and focusing our hatred. When disagreeing with official policy is automatically "aid and comfort to the enemy," we have a less overt manifestation of the Thought Police. We have a populace that can be whipped into a frenzy for a war with one country while ignoring a more grave threat. Dismantling clean air standards is called Clear Skies; allowing more logging called Healthy Forests.
Our words are not being destroyed by the government, but by our culture. Anti-intellectualism is a prevailing notion. Flag pins on suit lapels are proof of orthodoxy.
I'm reading Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby now, and right at the beginning he gives me a great way to end this post, and to direct my thinking into modern life (which Palahniuk is masterful at capturing):
Old George Orwell got it backward.
Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake. He's making sure you're always distracted. He's making sure you're fully absorbed.
He's making sure your imagination withers. Until it's as useful as your appendix. He's making sure your attention is always filled.
There was a book written I think in the late 40s called “It can happen here” about the rise of facism in the US.
Basically it argued that when facism comes to the US it will come as a friendly face wrapped in an American flag, not a Swastika.
OF course, no one believes that.