Though a Fabian socialist himself, Orwell had profound insight into the totalitarian State. 1984 makes several points that had were already well known about totalitarianism, including:
1) The State must cultivate a dreadful fear of its power among the entire population, both Party members and non-members, through an extensive network of intrusive surveillance and secret informants;
2) The State must cultivate a visceral hatred of particular enemies;
3) Totalitarianism fails to deliver material prosperity, but the State touts its phony material accomplishments with lies and phony statistics;
4) Totalitarian state propaganda actively rewrites history to suit the needs of the present; and,
5) Totalitarianism can’t happen all at once, but must evolve over many years.
However, the intentional corruption of language by the State was Orwell’s most profound and original insight. Orwell observed that a critical objective of education and propaganda in the modern totalitarian State is not only to misinform the public, but also to reform the vocabulary and usage of language in a manner that makes it impossible for an individual to form a thought contrary to the interests of the State.
When I originally read 1984 back in the ‘60s, I thought he was merely extrapolating Stalinism to a future dystopian Britain. On re-reading a couple of years ago, I realized that Orwell’s observation about the corruption of language didn’t just apply to the USSR; it applies to the USA as well.
Double Ungood.
I read that Orwell rejected his socialist viewpoint later in life. Am I wrong?