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Orwell’s 1984 and Today
Imprimis ^ | December 2020 • Volume 49, Number 12 | Larry P. Arnn President, Hillsdale College

Posted on 02/03/2021 1:05:59 PM PST by EBH

The totalitarian novel is a relatively new genre. In fact, the word “totalitarian” did not exist before the 20th century. The older word for the worst possible form of government is “tyranny”—a word Aristotle defined as the rule of one person, or of a small group of people, in their own interests and according to their will. Totalitarianism was unknown to Aristotle, because it is a form of government that only became possible after the emergence of modern science and technology.

The old word “science” comes from a Latin word meaning “to know.” The new word “technology” comes from a Greek word meaning “to make.” The transition from traditional to modern science means that we are not so much seeking to know when we study nature as seeking to make things—and ultimately, to remake nature itself. That spirit of remaking nature—including human nature—greatly emboldens both human beings and governments. Imbued with that spirit, and employing the tools of modern science, totalitarianism is a form of government that reaches farther than tyranny and attempts to control the totality of things...

...In Orwell’s 1984, there are telescreens everywhere, as well as hidden cameras and microphones. Nearly everything you do is watched and heard. It even emerges that the watchers have become expert at reading people’s faces. The organization that oversees all this is called the Thought Police.

...you can also look at how big tech companies here in the U.S. are tracking people’s movements and activities to the extent that they are often able to know in advance what people will be doing. Even more alarming, these companies are increasingly able and willing to use the information they compile to manipulate people’s thoughts and decisions.

...Winston’s job is to fix every book, newspaper, etc. that it conforms to the new truth.

(Excerpt) Read more at imprimis.hillsdale.edu ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Conspiracy; Reference
KEYWORDS: 1984; hillsdalecollege; larryarnn; orwell
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There's a lot to unpack in December's monthly read. It is not the tyranny we are watching, but the totalitarian nature unfolding in real life.

Just as Winston from 1984 realized the only thing that mattered was the present and the party. Even today as I listened to Rush Limbaugh's guest host it isn't the tyrant we are fearing, it is the totalitarian.

As technocrats attempt to control the narrative and what we can say or think, there's calls now from the New York Times of a Truth Czar.

1 posted on 02/03/2021 1:05:59 PM PST by EBH
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To: EBH
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. George Orwell, 1984

Most transparent and fair election ever. Today, unfortunately.

2 posted on 02/03/2021 1:14:33 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: EBH

my favorite 1984 quotes:

It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers−out of unorthodox.

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.”

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”


3 posted on 02/03/2021 1:19:14 PM PST by euram
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To: EBH

Excellent article. Deserves to be read in full.


4 posted on 02/03/2021 1:27:45 PM PST by I want the USA back (The nation is in the grips of hysterical insanity, as usual.)
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To: MtnClimber

How the Biden Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis

Appoint a ‘reality czar.’
Several experts I spoke with recommended that the Biden administration put together a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic extremism, which would be led by something like a “reality czar.”

It sounds a little dystopian, I’ll grant. But let’s hear them out.

Right now, these experts said, the federal government’s response to disinformation and domestic extremism is haphazard and spread across multiple agencies, and there’s a lot of unnecessary overlap.

Renée DiResta, a disinformation researcher at Stanford’s Internet Observatory, gave the example of two seemingly unrelated problems: misinformation about Covid-19 and misinformation about election fraud.

Often, she said, the same people and groups are responsible for spreading both types. So instead of two parallel processes — one at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aimed at tamping down Covid-related conspiracy theories, and another at the Federal Election Commission, trying to correct voting misinformation — a centralized task force could coordinate a single, strategic response.

“If each of them are doing it distinctly and independently, you run the risk of missing connections, both in terms of the content and in terms of the tactics that are used to execute on the campaigns,” Ms. DiResta said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/technology/biden-reality-crisis-misinformation.html


5 posted on 02/03/2021 1:29:03 PM PST by EBH (Repent, Accept, Proclaim )
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To: EBH

There’s also a lot of premonition in the “Hunger Games” novels.

DC is looking more like the Capitol every day.


6 posted on 02/03/2021 1:31:14 PM PST by Bratch
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To: I want the USA back

Really gives one great pause.

As we see the NYT calling for a Reality Czar, the censorship happening, the troops in DC this isn’t about tyranny.

It all has to stop. The question is how to accomplish that worthy goal?


7 posted on 02/03/2021 1:31:36 PM PST by EBH (Repent, Accept, Proclaim )
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To: EBH

Orwell was an optimist.


8 posted on 02/03/2021 1:39:20 PM PST by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: EBH

Thought I’d read them all on this topic, but this article is excellent. Well worth the time. Thank you.


9 posted on 02/03/2021 1:43:15 PM PST by 2big2fail
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To: EBH

IOW, Thought Police.


10 posted on 02/03/2021 1:47:41 PM PST by Jacquerie (ArticleVBlog.com)
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To: euram

2021, feels like Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm” all over again.

Our “1984” was Pres. Ronald Reagan, a patriot, anti-communist, pro-economic growth, less govt intrusion in our lives, lower taxes, and political sanity.


11 posted on 02/03/2021 1:51:56 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: EBH; I want the USA back; euram
<>It all has to stop. The question is how to accomplish that worthy goal?<>

If we save ourselves, it won't happen through the electoral process.

Article V opponents and some proponents view the Article V COS movement through the lens of our national political parties. The time is long past to dislodge oneself from this paradigm. To remain in this mindset is unhelpful at best, and destructive at worst, because the two national parties are one Uniparty incapable of reforming the racket that serves its members so well.

The Article V COS movement stands above the collection of factions comprising the Uniparty. Just watch any YouTube, or read any transcript of common citizens testifying before state legislative committees on behalf of Article V. Their uplifting and noble appeals to the general welfare of the nation pluck the patriotic strings in every American’s heart.

Outflank the Uniparty - Article V.

12 posted on 02/03/2021 1:55:52 PM PST by Jacquerie (ArticleVBlog.com)
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To: Bratch
Years ago (when I had a 60+ minute commute) I was watching my fellow commuters and was suddenly reminded of 'Childhood's End' by Arthur C. Clarke. This was required reading in my High School American Lit class and I remember finding it chilling but implausible at the time.
Riding along I couldn't help but think about how technology was making work less labor intense and our lives more enjoyable with computers, walkmans, tiny TVs and beepers. Then the internet came along and again I was reminded of how unseen beings were effecting everyday life and making it easier to ask on a BBS than go to the library and look it up. Hypertext and highspeed data transfers brought more people to the alter of technology to read and believe what they read there. As people got dumber they added video so you don't even have to read.
When Obama started giving out cellphones with free internet access I knew we were in trouble.
Although the visitors in the book were not evil, more and more I am seeing how taking over day to day life - right down to what people are thinking - is dumbing down America and people are unwittingly giving total control of their lives to something evil.
13 posted on 02/03/2021 2:09:13 PM PST by Semper Vigilantis (Suppose they gave an inauguration and nobody came)
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To: EBH

bookmark


14 posted on 02/03/2021 2:09:26 PM PST by GOP Poet (Super cool you can change your tag line EVERYTIME you post!! :D. (Small things make me happy))
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To: EBH

We are in 2084!


15 posted on 02/03/2021 2:23:08 PM PST by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
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To: EBH

16 posted on 02/03/2021 2:54:11 PM PST by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: EBH

17 posted on 02/03/2021 3:04:53 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Harpotoo; null and void; SkyPilot; Roman_War_Criminal; Maudeen; firebrand; SisterK; Karliner; ...
[We are in 2084!]

And we got a discount! We saved 63 years!

I have not read this book. I just know the author was in a video with Dr. Ed Hindson. The best teacher on Bible prophecy I know (and that I have met).



https://www.amazon.com/2084-Larry-W-Poland/dp/0840744153
18 posted on 02/03/2021 3:19:26 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: SaveFerris

We are in 2084.

Not yet!

The good thing is my wife and I and our siblings will not be around to be abused.

Most of our direct heirs will be gone, also.

Few if any GK’s and nieces and nephews will be around.

So 2084 is not a real problem for most of us, our children and probably not our grand kids.

2022/23/24 will be enough problems for those us here.


19 posted on 02/03/2021 3:35:52 PM PST by Grampa Dave (Law & order took the last train out of DC & America on election/coup/night, Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2020!!)
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To: Grampa Dave

I’m saying we’re in 2084, in essence. Almost.......

Be real interesting by 2022, I’m thinking.

Well, we’ll see.


20 posted on 02/03/2021 5:17:50 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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