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Orwell's vision of the future comes to Britain
The Daily Athenaeum ^ | 04-26-2007 | Dusty Loy, Iowa State Daily (Iowa State U.)

Posted on 04/26/2007 9:43:56 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666

The European Union continues to inch closer to the dystopia foreseen by George Orwell in his novel ''1984.'' In Orwell's novel the main character is a party member in a socialist, totalitarian government that perpetuates its power through omnipresent surveillance and perpetually seeking out ''thoughtcrime,'' such as holding views that were contrary to what the party wishes individuals to think. In the main character's diary, he explains it thusly: ''Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death,'' and ''Thoughtcrime is the only crime that matters.''

After six years of work, the European Union announced in Luxembourg last week that they had come to an agreement on new legislation that is intended to combat hate crimes, xenophobia racism. The document is titled ''Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia.''

The document defines racism and xenophobia as ''publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising ... and directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin when the conduct is carried out in a manner likely to incite to violence or hatred against such a group or a member of such a group.''

The penalties for possessing such irrational fears of foreigners include one to three years in prison as well as exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or aid, temporary or permanent disqualification from the practice of commercial activities, or being placed under judicial supervision.

Therefore, if an E.U. citizen ''grossly trivializes'' or ''publicly condones'' the Armenian genocide -- exactly what several groups were doing in Times Square in New York City on Sunday -- they would get thrown into jail for three years and be banned from having a job or benefits of the state upon release.

The new rules would completely protect any event labeled as genocide by the International Criminal Court in the Hauge, and thus any views differing from theirs are severely punished.

In ''1984,'' to enforce this plethora of regulations on thoughtcrime while maintaining their iron grip on individual thought, the state of Oceania enacted a surveillance society.

They had omnipresent devices called telescreens, televisions equipped with video cameras that informed citizens when they broke the rules and aided the ''Thought Police'' in locating and squelching dissent.

Britain recently introduced talking closed-circuit television cameras that will allow police to tell individuals to stop misbehaving through a built-in microphone and speaker.

In Middlesbrough, monitors in a central location watch the cameras and interact with the public through microphones. According to the BBC, these are being extended to 20 additional areas across Britain, and are being implemented to prevent fights and reduce litter.

The BBC also states that Britain already has more than 4.2 million standard CCTV cameras installed across the country, that's one camera for every 10 individuals, with more going in every day.

Restricting freedoms because of fears and guilt is not the answer. Even in America, knee-jerk reactionaries across the country call for restricted freedoms whenever tragedy occurs.

Irrational fears of other cultures, tragedy, and littering are part of a free and open society, something we except in order to maintain individual liberty.

Europeans would be better served by exercising freedoms to inform, convince and educate those who disagree or deny.

Draconian sentences for these thoughtcrimes combined with prevalent monitoring only exacerbate the problem by stifling debate and eliminating liberty.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: 1984; 23yearslate; biggov; dystopia; eu; nannystate; policestate; populism; socialism; thoughtcrime; tyranny

1 posted on 04/26/2007 9:44:02 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Therefore, if an E.U. citizen ‘’grossly trivializes’’ or ‘’publicly condones’’ the Armenian genocide — exactly what several groups were doing in Times Square in New York City on Sunday — they would get thrown into jail for three years and be banned from having a job or benefits of the state upon release.

Actually I am not sure that is true. I read somewhere that the EU turns a blind eye to the history of the Armenian genocide - In order to placate the Turks and bring them into the EU.....


2 posted on 04/26/2007 9:51:13 AM PDT by Hatter6
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Greoge Orwell died way too young (46) in 1950 of TB. Had he lived another 40 - 50 years, he would have said, “I told you so.”...........


3 posted on 04/26/2007 9:56:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (My gerund got caught in my diphthong, and now I have a dangling participle...............)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Democrats and nanny-state (populist/”neocon”) Republicans are taking notes and dreaming up ways to “improve” in this dystopian nightmare fetishism.


4 posted on 04/26/2007 10:08:05 AM PDT by M203M4 (Constitutional Republic has a nice ring to it - alas, it's incompatible with the communist manifesto)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

Britain? The EU?

We ain’t too far behind....


5 posted on 04/26/2007 10:09:31 AM PDT by Adder (Can we bring back stoning again? Please?)
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To: Adder

Orwell’s work always astonishes me in light of where we’re headed.


6 posted on 04/26/2007 10:59:32 AM PDT by freepertoo
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

I think that is their agenda. I can just see Mrs. Bill Clinton itching to implement this accoss America.


7 posted on 04/26/2007 11:10:37 AM PDT by freekitty
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To: Red Badger
Greoge Orwell died way too young (46) in 1950 of TB. Had he lived another 40 - 50 years, he would have said, “I told you so.”...........

Think the idea was so that he wouldn't have to. :)

8 posted on 04/26/2007 11:29:02 AM PDT by Nachum
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To: freepertoo

Another author whose work astonishes me is John Brunner...The Sheep Look Up and Stand On Zanzibar. His work is more cultural than political but it was pretty prescient


9 posted on 04/26/2007 11:35:02 AM PDT by Adder (Can we bring back stoning again? Please?)
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