ORWELL'S '1984' AND THE RISE OF U.S. SOCIALISM
Published Monday, December 9, 2019
By *William Haupt III | The Center Square
The most definitively germane novel of the 20th century is so trendy
it is deluded as contemporary. It birthed the words in our language "Big
Brother" and "doublethink." It turned 70 years young this year.
Translated into 65 languages, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" has sold so many
copies worldwide, it has guaranteed George Orwell a dubious and unique
place in the archives of world literature. If there is any doubt about
the tenacious power of classic literature and its influence on
modernized culture, we need to “doublethink”: Since the election of
Barack Obama and his progressive far left, and the rise of U.S.
Socialism, 1984 heads the Amazon “Movers & Shakers” list.
It is uncanny how much of the monolithic State of Oceania resonates
within today’s America. From the malevolent Big Brother monitoring
everything we do, the history-erasing Ministry of Truth, to the
omnipresent telescreens of the thought police, we’ve accepted these
daemons in disguise. What was a cautionary tale and eerie prophecy of
systematic violation of power has become rooted in our nation. However,
unlike the classic lexicon where the pernicious Big Brother had a
cryptic hold on his total society and its institutions, a committee of
traditional media and federalist progressives controls the content of
our thoughts, speech, curriculum and catechisms all in the name of
political correctness.
While Orwell’s fears were precipitate at the time, his ghoulish
clairvoyance was not. Since Orwell’s allegorical federation was reliant
on the power of total control, his analogy that Big Brother had to
restrict, regulate, ration and superintend all forms of communications
is the centerpiece of his work. To do this, he created a bureaucracy of
innocently named apocalyptic agencies and enforcers that would execute
and police the written and spoken language of every single subject. This
encompassed all information exchanged in his society from the past, the
present and future. He knew that he “who controls the past controls the
future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
Orwell’s purpose was to define the aberrant characteristics of modern
tyranny. Orwell’s Ministry of Truth was a protagonist that was charged
with constantly censoring information and rewriting the key events of
history to suit present circumstances and shifting alliances. He and his
fellow workers formed a mass collective of an all-seeing and all-knowing
presence to shape and fashion every bit of information that was
exchanged in Oceania. Today, progressives feed information to their
allies in the media. Media repeats everything they are told. The press
is now America’s Ministry of Truth.
Big Brother used telescreens, much like today’s TV and computer
monitors, to spy on everyone in the state. Today, social media is the
telescreen that spies on our gestures, purchases, consumer’s choices and
online comments that make the user the commodity. Their preferences are
marketed to politicians and the governments to enable them to gain favor
using identity politics. Orwell knew oppressive regimes needed enemies
and revealed how propaganda enables them to accomplish it. Today,
progressives utilize identity politics to divide and conquer the masses
and maximize power.
To overcome resistance, Orwell showed the effectiveness of mob
violence. By placing agitators in dissident crowds, he depicted the
power of hate. In order to bring order to opposing disputants, his
infiltrators encouraged mob violence. When a crowd felt the electric
current of hate, they rioted and were remanded to submission. Once they
fell into rank and file with others in their collusion, it was easy for
Big Brother to force unwelcomed divergence on them. Socialists and
leftist organizations continually utilize this tactic to garner media
and public acceptance for self-serving political causes.
Orwell’s writing is rooted within the struggles between each “ism”
that disfigured the 20th Century. He fought against Fascism in the
Spanish Civil War and believed pacifism was a luxury paid for by
cowards. And he experienced the horrors of Communism as well as the
threat of Socialism to its true believers. Today, there is another set
of “isms,” nationalism which promotes national solidarity and encourages
pride in national achievements and unites it in patriotism. This was
Orwell’s ideal type of “ism.”
Orwell viewed Socialism as the monster of all the “isms” since it was
the most deceptive. Since it operates by mobilizing under-classes and
appealing to their feelings of resentment for capitalism, Socialism is
the most dangerous “ism” of all. As Orwell predicted, America’s leftist
socialists make sympathetic promises of rewards to hoards of
self-persecuting under-classes at the expense of achievers. This garners
support for their power base in American government. It enables them to
become Big Brother to willing subjects, in return for relinquishing
freedom and liberty to the party.
The greatest horror in Orwell’s dystopia was controlling the
language. By eradicating words and the ideas they embody, Big Brother
made comprehending true realism impossible. He replaced words with
phantoms and lies. Anyone caught using “oldspeach instead of newspeach”
was put to death. In Oceania, every clock struck 13, and 2 plus 2
equaled 5. Nobody dared to question it. If you were caught writing
oldspeach in a letter or in a diary, The Word Police would prosecute you
for treason.
Although 1984 is a fictional account of how a tyrant eradicates the
truth so the people lose their ability to recognize the real world,
Orwell had seen this throughout Europe. His object was to alert people
of the importance of free speech. This classic was part of every
school’s curriculum until the advent of Common Core. It is no longer
required reading in many American schools. By limiting what books that
the left fears are a threat to socialism, it permits them to control
language that influences future ideas. This is how the liberal media
rewrites history and enhances the ideology of leftist Socialism.
Orwell told us, “We know that no one ever seizes power with the
intention of relinquishing it.” Big Brother is no longer a mysterious
distopian mythical character in a 70-year-old classic; but he is alive
and well waiting in the wings of the democratic socialist party. Schools
and the media have been instructed to preach the doctrine of political
correctness by progressive allies in government and this has dealt a
deadly blow to America’s ability to defend and protect liberty from
Socialism.
When Orwell wrote 1984, he was responding to the horrific events of a
World War. He penned his classic during the rise of Socialism and
Communism in countries that just defended their freedom. Orwell never
imagined the cyber age and politicians using technology to advance
Socialism. But he did imagine governments censoring free speech in the
name of political correctness to gain power.
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often
trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect, and unless
checked, lead to a disrespect for the rights of citizens.” – George Orwell
* William Haupt III is a retired professional journalist, author,
and citizen legislator in California for over 40 years.
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