Helpful Score: 2
1984
George Orwell
I think I read this book. That is, I have a memory of having spent some time with Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brien and the others but of course I can't be sure those memories are real or just a figment of my imagination, or perhaps planted there by the thinkpol (Thought Police to those of you who don't know Newspeak and may still be hung up in oldthink). You may find that hard to accept, especially if you don't live here in the Imperial Valley where martial law dominates, where one cannot travel into or out of the valley without being stopped and examined by the Border Patrol, where one cannot even go for a walk in one's rural neighborhood without danger of being stopped and asked for identification, but the insidious encroachment of this latest version of George Orwell's nightmarish vision may soon reach your neighborhood and then you'll understand.
You'll understand that this book, written so long ago (1949) and probably (if the "experts" like Erich Fromm can be believed) as a warning about the dangers of communism, is still a viable prognostication of what our own world is about to become even now that communism is no longer a viable social force. You'll understand the suggestions about the 'class struggles' of former societies only continue to recycle themselves so that we are bound to repeat them over and over again. Of course if you are, like me, one of the 'proles' you won't care because what the Inner Party (ruling class) does is of no concern to you. I don't care. I love Big Brother. I'm glad he's taking care of us and protecting us from dangerous aliens. And if I have to give my life to the cause, if I have to keep re-writing history so that Big Brother can never be proven wrong, if I have to remain celibate so that I won't produce any offspring who might become more precious to me than Big Brother, that's little to offer for the peace of mind I have. At least I think it's peace of mind. I mean, if Big Brother says I'm happy, then I'm happy, right?
Don Le Couteur
Ocotillo
22 February 2012
George Orwell
I think I read this book. That is, I have a memory of having spent some time with Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brien and the others but of course I can't be sure those memories are real or just a figment of my imagination, or perhaps planted there by the thinkpol (Thought Police to those of you who don't know Newspeak and may still be hung up in oldthink). You may find that hard to accept, especially if you don't live here in the Imperial Valley where martial law dominates, where one cannot travel into or out of the valley without being stopped and examined by the Border Patrol, where one cannot even go for a walk in one's rural neighborhood without danger of being stopped and asked for identification, but the insidious encroachment of this latest version of George Orwell's nightmarish vision may soon reach your neighborhood and then you'll understand.
You'll understand that this book, written so long ago (1949) and probably (if the "experts" like Erich Fromm can be believed) as a warning about the dangers of communism, is still a viable prognostication of what our own world is about to become even now that communism is no longer a viable social force. You'll understand the suggestions about the 'class struggles' of former societies only continue to recycle themselves so that we are bound to repeat them over and over again. Of course if you are, like me, one of the 'proles' you won't care because what the Inner Party (ruling class) does is of no concern to you. I don't care. I love Big Brother. I'm glad he's taking care of us and protecting us from dangerous aliens. And if I have to give my life to the cause, if I have to keep re-writing history so that Big Brother can never be proven wrong, if I have to remain celibate so that I won't produce any offspring who might become more precious to me than Big Brother, that's little to offer for the peace of mind I have. At least I think it's peace of mind. I mean, if Big Brother says I'm happy, then I'm happy, right?
Don Le Couteur
Ocotillo
22 February 2012
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