The 60th anniversary of 1984
Sam Kazman at CEI reminds me that today is the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell’s 1984.
The Independent has an authors’ roundtable/retrospective on Orwell’s influential novel.
Kazman applies the lessons of 1984 to the battle over global warming/climate change/whatever the latest Newspeak is for the eco-radicals’ embrace-bigger-government-or-fizzle up-and-die agenda:
Sixty years ago this week, George Orwell’s most important work of political fiction, 1984, was published. Orwell’s novel warned of the centralization of political power and the lengths that a totalitarian regime, led by Big Brother, would go to maintain its control over society.
On this anniversary, the Competitive Enterprise Institute reminds those who value freedom of a more current threat – the crusade for global governance led by environmental activist groups in the name of combating global warming. With calls for limits on energy use, new global taxes and the regulation of individual behavior, the recent development of environmental policy has tended ever more toward greater government control and less personal freedom.
“Environmental campaigners have long benefitted from the assumption that they have good intentions,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. “Unfortunately, the modern environmental movement has focused increasingly on policies that increase government control over what business can sell, what consumers can buy and what individuals can do with their lives. Truly harmful emissions have been successfully restricted for the most part. But with the war on carbon dioxide being escalated to extreme levels, as demonstrated in the new Waxman-Markey bill, we see expanding government control become a goal unto itself.”
CEI’s 90-second video campaign dramatizes this threat. The video follows in the steps of Apple Computer’s 1984 Super Bowl ad and the 2007 anti-Hillary Clinton “Vote Different” parody. It shows – in place of Big Brother – Al Gore lecturing a captive audience on the need to crack down on energy use, economic growth and personal freedom.
Mr. Kazman stated: “Orwell’s nightmarish society rested on a never-ending war fought on constantly shifting battlefronts. Nothing in our experience comes closer to that war than the current campaign to restrict humanity’s carbon footprint.”
***
“To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.’
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Well, how appropriate.
George had it right.
BIG BRO was just a couple of decades late.
Indeed. The AGW hysteria is not about truth, it is about control.
The Jihadis and the Socialists/Communists want to completely control the U.S. and us. We could be an oil EXPORTER if we simply accessed our own oil reserves. But the “green” movement (by the way, green is also the color of ISLAM) is keeping us dependent on oil from Muslim and Socialist/Communist countries.
On June 8th, 2009 at 4:08 pm, Ragspierre said:
Only because of one man: Ronald Reagan.
If Carter had been re-elected (or stolen the election), Big Bro would have been right on time by 1984.
ACORN will do their best to ensure Obama gets “re-elected”.
I first read this book in high school and the liberals often misrepresented Orwell’s work for their own purposes. Nah, I thought, as a kid, he’s “way” out there and such a scenario, as he presents in his book, could never happen.
Maybe. Maybe not.
There were so many things I used to believe about this country. All I ever got was the lie that we live in a “democracy” when it’s really a REPUBLIC. All my teachers were so bent on this myth, that we the people own this government when we the people either are far removed from the government or like to think that we have any influrence at all.
Orwell’s book was a clarion call at what happens when a government cons its people into believing they’re taken care of and the efforts they’ll undertake, at any COST, to maintain the status quo, no matter what, to preserve the sham such false philosophies as “democracy” put forth.
We, as a people, are controlled. We no longer control the government.
I am no conspiracy theorist. But I can see train-wrecks and cause-effect relationships.
I cannot argue with your statement.
His own use of energy and resources is all you need to know, to know it’s about Control of others…
If I were a lit teacher, I would make this required reading. Then I would prepare to be fired. Oh wait, I would be unionized.
Orwell was a Fabian Socialist.
He was also intellectually honest. He had seen that socialist systems (National Socialist and others) had a horrific tendency toward totalitarian excess. They can hardly do otherwise, as they require the subjugation of the individual to a collective notion of “good”.
Chilling.
What? You guys don’t think Gorbal could pass a Pelosi “inventory”…???
Or, like her, would he never be subjected to the treatment they would force on us…?
Who knew that Big Brother would turn out to be Algore, and that Big Brother would end up being a crashing bore? He certainly fits the personality of a hypnotist, though.
Conveniently, BHO has such a war behind which he can manipulate the sheeple who are conveniently held enraptured by their ‘feelies’ (American Idol, Survivor, etc, etc.). Meanwhile, the Big Bro himself carries out The Party slogan “He who controls the past, controls the future” with no fear the sheeple will catch on as history is rewritten and the future is shaped into a Utopia where the people’s very thoughts are controlled to ensure purity of the oligarchical system in place.
Yes, yes, I know I am mixing Brave New World in here, but the similarities with it, 1984 and our current state are indeed very scary.
“We have always been at war with Eastasia.”
Similarity indeed.
Soma Tablet anyone???…..makes everything bad go away…….
You mean like when Big Bro used the Bailout money as leverage to force government control over GM and Chrysler against their will, and then told the public that running a car company was the last thing he wanted to do?
Or when Big Bro announced he had saved 150,000 jobs so far, when in reality the unemployment rate is 60% higher than he predicted it would be by now? If Orwell had put that in his novel, he would have been laughed at. Nobody would have believed that a society could be that gullible.
To the younger readers and posters here that more than likely have heard of but never read “1984″ simply think Star Trek and the collective “Borg” … it is an apropos example of what “Big Bro Obama” has in store for all of us if he gets his way …
Here’s another great quote from Orwell: “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
Newspeak is indeed the language of the Obaman administration and the msm. Millions of jobs are being saved every month citizens!
Orwell was a prophet.
It’s all coming true right before our eyes.
Sorry to have to disagree (slightly) here, but as grave a threat global warming hysteria and Obamacare are to our freedoms, the most direct path to “1984″ is RFID. That’s what will enable them to keep track of you at all times, and the process is unfolding right now, with both parties fully on board.
***
George Orwell was a remarkable person. He wrote an excellent article on his service in the Spanish Civil War-he was shot through the neck there and recovered. I first saw the 1984 movie in black and white in 1957–when I was 16 years old. It was really scary.
***
Now it is here again. If you want to see how liberal / socialist / marxist / communist states end up and impoverish their people–read Yoani Sanchez’s excellent GeneracionY blog–English translation available for the Espanol challenged. She talks about the Cuban “doublethink”, class envy, etc.
***
Then read National Geographic’s excellent articles on Cuba–doctors making the same $20 a month as a taxi driver, the “jineteras” (hookers), the second class citizenship and treatment the average Cuban citizen gets. Orwell got it right again.
***
John Bibb
***
I think I need to rent it again for my kids and grandkids.
Maybe a double feature with Soylent Green.
It is a natural outcome of longstanding trends towards more dictatorial government in any nation. The only new thing is the technology. Any person even vaugely interested in history would see this coming. Thats why the founding fathers said that revolutions would be required to keep this country free.
I’ve watched the left re-write history for some time now…. Obama uses his re-interpretation of history often and the media reinforces it without researching, but simple regurgitation of the politically correct.
This book was once fiction to me … no more.
He will not get his way – when the call comes, I will not stand down.
A republic is a system using representatives with a president, not a king. Our nation is a democracy because we take part in it by electing representatives. It is specifically known as a “representative democracy.” The Founders only warned about a “pure democracy,” which could lead to mob rule. A “pure” democracy is a system where the people directly take part in governing by having a chance to vote on every issue ( ballot initiatives, referendums and recalls are collectively referred to as “direct democracy.” Direct democracy is a form of pure democracy). The quotations from the Founders about the dangers of a democracy (which are used to support “we are a republic, not a democracy”) are taken from their phrase “pure democracy.” In The Federalist Papers, No.10, James Madison defined what he meant by pure democracies, and pointed out how a republican system would “cure” it by using representatives instead. Madison wrote: “a pure Democracy, by which I mean, a Society, consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the Government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. …A Republic, by which I mean a Government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”
We have a good system, but the majority is supporting The One’s policies.
Dave, there was one important component omitted from your otherwise excellent post.
This is a constitutional republican democracy. That charter of government was intended to prevent the imposition of excesses by even the (supposedly) deliberate representatives of the people. It was designed to secure the maximum liberty of the people, and to force government down, into the states and away from the central power.
It was and is a brilliant system…that is nearly entirely abandoned at the moment.
I’ve read that George Orwell named the lead character of 1984 (Winston Smith) to honor Winston Churchill, since Churchill was a fierce opponent of communism throughout his life. Churchill read 1984 twice:
Orwell was more of a prophet than Mohammed.
Two thoughts–
1) Orwell would repudiate anyone being his “follower” in the religious sense
2) clear your fields of fire
Roger, both, Rags.
We are expected to ignore the raping of the environment in other countries so that we can’t judiciously extract oil and other resources from our own land. Green is the color of hypocrisy.
“This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.”
~Plato~
I read 1984 as a teenager. I’d previously read several works by Ayn Rand and thought, perhaps, that Orwell was inspired by her….only taking it a step further. “Soylent Green” was a step off the cliff.
MtsEdge #34
I’m constantly amazed that the real enviromentalists don’t get more upset about the invasion of immigrants to not only the U.S. but Europe too. Yes, we have millions of acres of virgin land in the U.S.. But, it’s so fragile and lacking water that to support the existing population it’s way overtaxed as it is. Where is their outrage?
Think of the pre 911 liberal mindset, the liberal demand for blood right after 911 and the later politicization of the wars they supported and interrogation techniques that liberals thought weren’t tough enough then and yet, torture now, and then let it quietly fade into memory when liberals are found to be just as culpable.
On June 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm, MtsEdge said:
I don’t have a link handy to back this up, but I remember hearing
(during the “Texas Tea” Party on the floor of the House of Representatives last August) that Venezuela leaks more oil in “oil spills” each DAY than the USA does all YEAR.
But the “green” left doesn’t care about that.
Why not?
Because it’s not really about the environment. It’s about control.
The GOP is as much about control as the DNC. Cameras on the streets, searches at the airports…all under the guise of keeping us safe.
The kicker in the book was that the resistance was actually just another of Big Brother’s arms.
There is no difference between the right and the left.
I remember reading 1984 and Animal Farm in high school and really having no idea what it was about when I was reading it – especially Animal Farm. I just don’t think many high schoolers have enough of a world view to understand it so therefore it’s up to the teacher to help them interpret. I can remember my teacher talking about communism and how it’s awful. Now I don’t think we can count on the lefty teachers to interpret those books appropriately to the students. I can imagine them telling the students that it proves the right are wingnuts and crazy.
1984 and Animal Farm were two of my favorite books I read back when I was a teenager in the ’60s. Every time I hear about the Constitution as a “living document” I think of Animal Farm.
Here is a poem I wrote 24 years ago called 1985:
1984 has come and gone
Maybe you think Orwell got it wrong
You sit there and look at your TV set
And you know it’s not looking back at you yet
But the TV doesn’t have to look back at you
To make you do what it wants you to
It tells you what to eat and drink
It tells you what to feel and think
It may not work on everyone
But it works enough to get the job done
well done Steve
The rest of the world has always looked upon America as “Green” … as in “Green with Envy” …
Very interesting perspective and explanation of
the Liberal mind.
Includes a reference to Orwell.
Emjem,
Libs are still misrepresenting the book. I had the misfortune to listen to the BBC World Service yesterday (the only English language news I get on radio) and they spent 30 minutes with an academic from London who explained that the book really wasn’t about Communism but rather about the human condition. All the while, I was thinking, “You are partially correct, it is about the human condition under Communism.” They went on at lengths about the fact that Orwell never visited the Soviet Union so couldn’t have known.. that sort of thing.
It was a classic Liberal History re-write. Of course, the BBC presenter never challenged the academic or attempted to use fact as a basis for discussion. That should go without saying.
If you wonder why the Euros are so Liberal – It’s because media here is absolutely controlled by the Government. They are taught by Liberal Governments to have liberal beliefs from the day they start watching TV. It’s kind of like.. well, 1984.
CiE, I read somewhere that Orwell’s fellow Fabians were more than a little miffed when he published 1984. He had quite a falling out with some of them…”thought policing”…??? It goes on today, with people saying the most transparent BS about the book and its meanings, like your academic guy.
I enjoyed Tammie Bruce’s book about the statists’ love of hatred and intolerance of contrary ideas, Thought Police.
Doublethink:
“To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.”
This alone hit the nail on the head for whats happening today.
Isn’t a PC first amendment thought police?
If you dare think it, you might, say it?
Science will eventually expose the charlatan Gore and his hoax. He will go down in history as being anti-science, and anti-environment. He is the leader of the pigs (some animals are more equal than others). The pigs will be defeated. Truth will win out in the end.
Love those Orwell quotes.
Here’s one source (of several):
http://www.george-orwell.org/l_quotes.html
Maybe someone already posted this one, but I think most here would appreciate it – so, I’ll list it just in case (many will recognize it):
” Liberal: a power worshipper without power. “
Sorry for the delay in responding, just getting back online…
Their outrage is misdirected, to be sure. I would call it selective outrage, as it is not based on the moral superiority of their position, but rather their intent to control others with their hyperventilating.
Well said. A local organic market has a sign in the window saying “100% wind power”. In truth, they are buying “wind credits”, which means they are paying an extra Algorean surcharge for the “feeling” of operating by wind. The only wind actually powering their market is the breeze created when they open and shut their wallet.
Now if they really invested $$$ in putting up a windmill, with the Federal and State tax credits which should be an incentive, that might be a different story…