George Orwell’s 1984 illustrates the power of politically correct “Thought Police” and “Big Brother” government bureaucrats. The society portrayed in “1984” is one in which social control is exercised through disinformation and surveillance. If you attempt to maintain a life of freedom and sovereignty you are “re-educated” to fall in line with the dictates of the “nation state”. Sound familiar? Read the book again or watch the John Hurt movie adaptation and you’ll be stunned at the similarities to the mind-control, censorship, and social manipulation going on around us today. Are those who work in corporate mainstream media outlets, along with Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the modern day employees of 1984’s “Ministry of Truth”? And, are we in a surveillance state? It’s not just the ubiquity of security camera’s everywhere, it’s also the data collection and eves dropping via our smart phones, computers, and internet connected electronics (thanks Alexa). And, the list would not be complete without mentioning the thousands of satellites in the sky with capabilities to see and hear through material structures anywhere and everywhere to easily spy on anyone with ease.
As Zachary Tomlinson wrote in December 2018, “The true terror in 1984 is ultimately the annihilation of the self and the destruction of the capacity to recognize the real world. Orwell’s work is not being subtle, or trying to look down on common people for falling prey to this: he understands how hard it is to get things right. However, his story pins down the unsettling horror of a world where people are stripped of their essential freedoms as they have fewer and fewer words to use to defend them, and whose thinking is distorted by blind ideologies. All over the world, where tyrannies rule, 1984 is banned. But of course, it is still pirated, digitally downloaded, and printed into false covers. And sales have surged too in countries that have always been known as stable democracies. It is not only that we live in a world transformed by Orwell’s insights in that they have shaped how we see oppression, but also that 1984 has become a practical handbook for handling difficult times. Ultimately, it helps us to remember that knowledge is a kind of strength and we are all being tested.”
What is the antidote? A quote from Ethan Indio Smith writing in Waking Times in February 2017 puts it well: “As the character of Winston Smith accurately observes in his diary, “If there is any hope, it lies with the Proles” — just as our hope for today lies with the so-called “99%”. The “proles” in our society must begin to look beyond the bread and circus, beyond the prolefeed, and become a true brotherhood, and sisterhood, by questioning information, educating themselves, and sharing what they learn with others in order that we might overcome institutional oppression and finally create the ‘golden age’ that is our combined potential.”
~Jay Kshatri
www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com
Explore Further:
- Will We All Eventually Live in an Orwellian Dystopia? George Orwell wrote 1984 almost 70 years ago, but the themes it depicts are becoming more and more relevant every day. By Zachary Tomlinson
- 1984, by George Orwell (book on Amazon)
- 1984 Film with John Hurt (on Amazon)
- The 3 Pillars of the Covid-19 Deception, Its Societal Implications, and How to Survive and Thrive, www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com
