1984

          I just finished listening to 1984 by George Orwell while in the car.  When I read this book many years ago, I thought it was just an interesting book of fiction.  If you have not read this book in the last few decades, I would recommend a re-read. 

          1984 was first published in 1949.  I am amazed at how relevant it is to our current country and political world.  Wikipedia describes it as a “dystopian novel”, and I would agree.   I always listen to books-on-tape while driving, I probably should not have listened to this one in the car, because at times it was so upsetting. 

          In 1984, the entire world is divided into three super states.  The story takes place in the province of Airstrip One, which was formerly Great Britain, and is part of the super-state Oceania.  Oceania is governed by an oligarchy called Ingsoc, which stands for English socialism.  Ingsoc is usually referred to as “The Party.”  The government owns everything and is in total control of everyone’s lives.  The name reminded me of Demsoc, which could stand for the democratic socialism many politicians now propose.

          The Party is led by Big Brother, who might not exist.  The Party has inner and outer circles of power and is in absolute control.  There is no place for freedom, family, or religion with Ingsoc.  The news is  totally controlled to promote The Party, and history is even rewritten to give The Party credit for everything good. 

          Rewriting history is the job of the main character in the book.  He works for the Ministry of Truth.  It is hard for him to forget the past after he rewrites history, but it is expected of him.  It is a concept called Doublethink.  If the Party says 2 + 2 = 5, people are expected to think 2 + 2 = 5.  Today, many of our politicians like to tell lies and rewrite history, and we accept it because “It’s just politics.”

          Ingsoc’s various government departments are quite interesting.  The Ministry of Love is in charge of torture and brainwashing.  The Ministry of Peace oversees the continuous war with one of the other two super-states. The Ministry of Plenty handles shortages and rationing, which is a big job as everything is rationed.  The Ministry of Truth is in charge of all propaganda and rewriting history records.   This sounds like today’s political name game.  The Affordable Health Care Act is a perfect example. 

          In Oceania, there are monitors everywhere, including everyone’s homes, which broadcast the single government channel.  This channel continually broadcasts news that the Party dictates.  People are not allowed to turn off these monitors.  The monitors are also cameras for spying on people.  Hidden microphones are everywhere to listen to anyone and everyone. 

          Rebellion against the party is not tolerated.  There are even Thought Police that spy on people.  Anyone with any action, talk, or thoughts against the party is arrested and often “vaporized”.  All the records and history of that person is then eliminated so the person never existed.

          Raising children is considered the responsibility of the Party.  The education children receive must teach the modified history and promote the political agenda of the Party.  All books are rewritten or eliminated so there is never any reference to freedom.  Children are taught total loyalty to the party.  One child turns in her father to the Thought Police for talking in his sleep and saying something that could be considered negative to The Party.  In spite of a certain death sentence, the father is so brainwashed that he is proud of his daughter’s loyalty to The Party.  One or more of our current Presidential candidates have stated that the responsibility of raising children is more with the state than the parents.  Scary!

          One thing that really interested me was the idea of Newspeak.  This was a dictionary that was continually revised to eliminate words.  For example, any words that might reference freedom were stricken.  This brought to mind our current obsession for political correctness. 

          Today, political correctness divides our country and makes it impossible to deal with actual issues. The political elite continue to grow the size and control of government. 

          After reading this book and comparing it to the current power and corruption of the political elite, it frightened me.  Our media is controlled by big money and the political elite and does not report the news or issues.  History is rewritten, and our education system promotes the political agenda. 

          This country is facing some very tough choices.  We must decide if we want to continue to increase the control government has over our lives, or if we want to maintain our country as the land of freedom and opportunity for our children.