The spirit of '84
One of my favourite books of all time is 1984. It is a brilliant story about a bleak and desolate world of tyranny and conformity. That said there are parts of the book I disagree with.
I do not believe that the party could attain such a level of domination, such a degree of thought control or the mindless loyalty it demands in the mere thirty or years as is depicted in the book. Don't get me wrong the degree of surveillance could be achieved. The fear to speak out against the party, the thought police could arise over night, Nazi Germany and McCarthyism are prime examples. I'm talking about the degree of doublethink, to use a term from the book (As I'm writing I'm noting that the spell check doesn't have a problem with doublethink but has problems with "favourite"). Most people seem to accept it but Winston only accepts the doctrine after an considerable time being tortured and even then only fully after the events in room 101. (Of course the book is written from Winston's perspective so it might not be so ingrained in the population as Winston believes.)
I also disagree with O'Brien, both in his book he wrote as "Goldstein" towards the end of part II or during his conversation with Winston in the Ministry of Love in part III. I find O'Brien's assertion that they have made it so the party would live forever a little presumptuous. The fact that child are taught to mistrust everyone else and only have loyalty towards Big Brother would be the downfall of the party as it's future generations will not be able to work cohesively together as everyone tries to court favour with the non-existent Big Brother.
The level of conformity and discouragement of creativity in Oceania would also contribute to it's inevitable downfall. Conformity and lack of creativity would stagnate the society. There would be a lack of technological advancement. You would need to have all three power blocs, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia to develop a similar social policy at the same time!
So, what was the point of this post? It is because of 1984 that stories like this fill me with both a spine chilling dread and hope for the future of humanity. China is like the party in 1984. Communist, totalitarian, has a stranglehold on the past and huge pictures of the party leader everywhere (though in this case Mao was a real person where as Big Brother is like Ronald MacDonald.). They are utilising classic control elements from 1984 - surveillance, thought police, random arrests, rewritten history. The Tibetans are afraid to talk out. They fear the Chinese.
But still they resist. They might not be taking to the streets. Bombs aren't being set off. Chinese police can walk the streets without being stoned. And yet the Tibetans still resist. In their minds they resist.
The one thing the Chinese government can't stop, is their thinking!
And that is fantastic!
I do not believe that the party could attain such a level of domination, such a degree of thought control or the mindless loyalty it demands in the mere thirty or years as is depicted in the book. Don't get me wrong the degree of surveillance could be achieved. The fear to speak out against the party, the thought police could arise over night, Nazi Germany and McCarthyism are prime examples. I'm talking about the degree of doublethink, to use a term from the book (As I'm writing I'm noting that the spell check doesn't have a problem with doublethink but has problems with "favourite"). Most people seem to accept it but Winston only accepts the doctrine after an considerable time being tortured and even then only fully after the events in room 101. (Of course the book is written from Winston's perspective so it might not be so ingrained in the population as Winston believes.)
I also disagree with O'Brien, both in his book he wrote as "Goldstein" towards the end of part II or during his conversation with Winston in the Ministry of Love in part III. I find O'Brien's assertion that they have made it so the party would live forever a little presumptuous. The fact that child are taught to mistrust everyone else and only have loyalty towards Big Brother would be the downfall of the party as it's future generations will not be able to work cohesively together as everyone tries to court favour with the non-existent Big Brother.
The level of conformity and discouragement of creativity in Oceania would also contribute to it's inevitable downfall. Conformity and lack of creativity would stagnate the society. There would be a lack of technological advancement. You would need to have all three power blocs, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia to develop a similar social policy at the same time!
So, what was the point of this post? It is because of 1984 that stories like this fill me with both a spine chilling dread and hope for the future of humanity. China is like the party in 1984. Communist, totalitarian, has a stranglehold on the past and huge pictures of the party leader everywhere (though in this case Mao was a real person where as Big Brother is like Ronald MacDonald.). They are utilising classic control elements from 1984 - surveillance, thought police, random arrests, rewritten history. The Tibetans are afraid to talk out. They fear the Chinese.
But still they resist. They might not be taking to the streets. Bombs aren't being set off. Chinese police can walk the streets without being stoned. And yet the Tibetans still resist. In their minds they resist.
The one thing the Chinese government can't stop, is their thinking!
And that is fantastic!
posted by Renegade79 at 10:10 am
2 Comments:
We must give up our [freedom/liberty] to defend our way of life. Our way of life that cherishes [liberty/freedom].
"Lisa I'm sure the PATRIOT ACT killed the constitution to protect our rights"
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