Category: Review

This is the end friend. Yes for the book and for the story. It definitely doesn’t have a happy ending but again, you can see the influence that the story has on 1984. It is almost the same story with different characters and a different plot story.

And now for a quick plot summary. D-503 was discovered and knocked out before he could implement the plot to hijack the Invictus. As a result, he is brought before the Benefactor to explain himself. D-503 revealed some details of the plot and was inexplicably let go again. This led to one final meeting with I-330 whereby D-503 revealed that he has already implicated I-330. He couldn’t bear to live with himself as is and decides to have the surgery to eliminate his imagination. After that, he confesses all and I-330 is captured and sentenced to death.

As you know, next week I will do a complete review of the book. But, before that what can we learn about this section? What I take away is that it is hard to do the thing that is contrary to the flow. It becomes even worse when that thing is potentially life risky.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I don’t think every 1940s German thought that Jews/Gypsies/and others should have been exterminated. We have heard plenty of stories of people that risked everything to save someone. But, that was a very difficult decision to make. In fact, I think that there were probably plenty of people that felt the same way, they were too scared to act on that belief.

To make it more complicated, what if it was your spouse on the target list and you were part of the Nazi party, totally bought in on the platform? Imagine the mental anguish in that situation? I think that most people would probably compartmentalize their safety over that of someone else. I am not making a value judgement, it is simply how I evaluate human nature. I don’t know how I would behave in that situation. I do know that I have had a number of opportunities to be a contrarian.

About two years ago, I went to the Elks meeting where we voted to accept and offer to sell the gun club. We already knew that the fix was in. The local lodge was in dire straights when it came to finances. A majority of the active members desperately desired to use the proceeds of the property sale to finance a new lodge. Mind you, this is the same group that is struggling to pay weekly bills.

Only two of the members voted no for approving the sale. It was me and the head trap coach. After the meeting was over, there were several members that came by us and said ‘I really wanted to vote no, but I was afraid of what so and so would think’. And that is the power of group think. People did actions that they otherwise did not believe in because of the potential repercussions.

So goes life. Fortunately, we are not dealing with a genocide decision. Probably what makes it easier for me is that I joined the Elks because of the range. That makes me an informal participant, not really what a member is supposed to do. In fact, you are technically supposed to ask for permission to not attend the weekly meeting. It is not that I don’t believe in the mission, but the reality is that I am less connected and so it is a lot easier to cast a dissenting vote and leave. I have other stories about situations where I am more invested but I will save that for another time.

Getting back on topic, D-503 is in an untenable position. He doesn’t have the guts and conviction to follow the lead of I-330 nor does he have the fortitude to stand against United State knowing that is likely a death sentence.

End Your Programming Routine: Truth and righteousness is really a subjective topic. Is it really lying if someone is asking questions that is none of their business? Yes, it is but the subjective part is whether they are worthy of the answer in the first place. Therefore, the morality question is much deeper than a simple binary truth/lie. We need to be prepared to justify our positions on contentious subjects if that is the case. I hope that you consider this point of view the next time someone is prying into your life.

I can say that I finished the book, but no spoilers for you. It was probably silly to break 100 page book up into eight segments, but I did. I only had 18 pages remaining at the beginning of the chapter so I went ahead and finished it. I actually debated on just ending the review here, but I need to time to catch up on some other reading and if I push this forward, it will make me have to start the next book sooner. So, you will have to bear with me.

In these five chapters, you have primarily the internal struggle that D-503 has after agreeing to participate in the destruction of the Invictus. I-330 of course suspected that he would have moral dilemma about following through. The subplots that are happening are O-90 does actually want to go beyond the wall to raise the child and D-503 figures out that U- is an informer to the Guardians. Finally, there is something called the Operation that is going to remove the numbers imagination. Everyone is scheduled to have it performed.

I want to talk about bad tactics and strategy. I think that it is bad strategy to rely on someone that is not completely bought into the idea of participation. I think that it is pretty natural that someone where an idea is just revealed that there may be some trepidation. At the very least, they more than likely cannot be convicted to the cause.

When I was in Boy Scouts, I orchestrated an stunt that failed. I was going to get some scouts to capture some patrol flags in the middle of the night. I had printed up posters with mysterious sayings and had someone there go up early and post them around camp before all the other troops arrived. I even sought permission from the adult leaders to do this. When we went to bed, one scout was supposed to set an alarm and wake us up at midnight.

Guess what didn’t happen, they didn’t wake up to the alarm and therefore we didn’t do it. I was crushed and upset for all the effort that I put in to do this and it failed. I think silently, this was one of those events that led me to feel like I can’t trust other people with something that I really wanted to do. More so than that, it lead me down the path that whatever I really wanted done, I needed to do it myself.

I think in retrospect, this might have been a good thing. It was a little risky as in not really Boy Scout behavior. But, it also changed something in me, not just mindset for a drive to make myself better. I decided to join high school wrestling because I thought that it was the best opportunity to become fit and a better ‘warrior’. I never wrestled because I loved it or was good at it, I wrestled because I thought that it made me tougher and more hardcore.

I never was the even a good athlete, but I became tough and strong. I could outwork most people physically and I had a never give up attitude. I had strong personal discipline based on regimen and denial. I am nowhere near that rigid today, but the one thing it did for me was give me the confidence that I could set my mind to a something and pursue it no matter how hard it was.

OK, so that was a bit of a diversion. What I am trying to get across is that people not fully committed to a cause are going to have moral conflict. Or at least, they are not going to prioritize it to the same point that believers are going to. This leads to a higher degree of failure.

Clearly the resistance had some prior knowledge of D-503. He was targeted for his position with the Invictus project and they had research him and his habits. I think that it is a stretch to think that someone is going to be bought in with limited exposure to what is happening. This is particularly true when they didn’t even explain what they were up to until days before he was supposed to initiate the most critical part of the plan.

Quite frankly, there are lots of times that I agree to something because I think that it is the right thing to do or it would be good for me. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have some angst or anxiety or regret associated with the decision. These are not life risking decisions either. I suppose that it wouldn’t be a humanizing story without the element of doubt and risk. Stay tuned to next week for the exciting ending or read ahead to find out for yourself.

End Your Programming Routine: I think that if you are going to belong to a radical group, there is probably some sort of loyalty test that you need to develop if you are going to hinge your revolution on an unknown commodity. I mean, doesn’t that seem obvious. Seriously, I think that it is the same psychology that goes with the saying that partnerships struggle. You never know what the other person is really thinking or if they are totally committed to the endeavor. No surprises here but this is why my wife calls me glass half full. I almost expect failure and success is a pleasant surprise.

This week, we have finally gotten a glimpse on what is going on with the book. In unrelated news, we were picking up some wine last weekend and the owner of the winery asked me if I was willing to lead the Culinary Book club. Of course I said yes, but I feel like the commitment will lead me to prioritize those activities over others. So far, in the past I have always treated it like an active member and not necessarily responsible for making it work. We will see how it goes, I am already a book behind as it is.

It is finally revealed what I-330 is up to. She is leaving the Green Wall and conferencing with some indigenous people. This would be descendants of people that did not migrate to city as a result of the 200 years war. Basically, they are on the outside, in the shadows and unknown to exist (at least to most). They are called the Mephi.

All this talk about D-503’s hairy hands in the book seems to be a reference to the Mephi. It seems that they have evolved as hairy people in order to survive outside of the city wall. His appearance and position is possibly what has attracted I-330 to D-503. In fact, the plan is for D-503 to sabotage the initial test of the Invictus in order to initiate a revolution of sorts.

It is the theory of I-330 that once the Invictus is operational, then the door to the spread of the style of life that the United State represents is about to proliferate and possibly be impossible to contain. We will have to stay tuned to the future to see if he actually does it. There was one other thing that I wanted to talk about this week and that was the encounter between D-503 and O-90.

If you recall a few reviews ago, O-90 came to the recognition that D-503 had fallen for I-330 and their relationship was over. In her madness, she wanted to have an illegal baby with D-503. This is an offense punishable by death. It is clearly spelled out in the book that O-90 has ‘baby glow’ and is beginning to visibly show signs of pregnancy. D-503 tries to offer her a new life by smuggling her outside the Green Wall and she responds that she would rather die.

I want to take a logical look at this. I hold strong feelings about freedom and personal choice. That being said, am I so blindsided by my own beliefs that I am willing to die for them? I guess I say that depends but for the sake of this discussion, no. So lets say that the last vestiges common sense leaves this state. I am already looking at moving to another state but I am not going to go kamikaze to make a point.

Let’s say that moving is not an option because the entire country is no different. I am still not going to sacrifice myself. I believe in a higher power and a better eternity. I would be extremely disappointed that we ruined the best things going, but then I also have to believe that there is a reason and that I have a role. God will tell me when it is time and it would be a direction from God if my actions were justifiable in advancing those values.

I get it, there are others that believe the faster they get to eternity, the better. But, that goes against my beliefs. I suppose to put it more crudely, I think that it is just wasteful slaughter. To put a finer point on all of this, I think that there are people that are so caught up in their emotion, they are willing to go forward despite facts to the contrary.

To use a lessor example: my wife and family went to a college football game a couple of weeks ago. On our walk back to the car I observed a person. It was a sunny day, temperatures in the upper seventies. The person was sitting in the shade at a table outside at a facility termed ‘community center’. I didn’t ask the pronouns but I assume it was a he based on the way he was dressed. He was sitting in the shade with a personal umbrella over the table, wearing long clothes and a facemask outside.

This told me a number of things. He was scared to be exposed to the sun and he was doing his part to protect us all from germs (outside). I freely admit that I am making assumptions without the facts but it illustrates the point that I believe. Some people are so wholly engulfed in a political agenda that they are scared of their own shadow.

These were the former double maskers. When one mask was proven to not work, the recommendation was to double down and add a second mask, that was our social responsibility after all. Once again without data to support the recommendation. I don’t know this for a fact, but I suspect the revolution is going to happen before O-90 gets caught and everything turns out OK. We will see.

End Your Programming Routine: My assessment of the actions of O-90 were reckless rather than heroic or even romantic. I suppose the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder so you are free to disagree. Whether I like it or not, my opinions on freedom and personal choice are becoming a minority of opinion in society. Most people cannot stomach that fact that I support the right to descent from my opinion even if it is to my own demise. I hate it but guess that is my baby.

We are still advancing and yet still in the dark. The bizarre train just keeps rolling along. We have fish face and electro-whipped prisoners. Then we have Unification Day celebration for universal approval of the Benefactor who is apparently the leader of the United State. The story is definitely going in the science fiction direction.

The first thing that caught my eye was in Record 22. This was just after the outburst from D-503 when he thought that I-330 had been captured and he was going to try and break free to save her. The doctor intervened in the situation saying that D-503 was not well and D-503 swears his allegiance to the Well Doer. There is talk about how Unification Day has some comparisons to Easter. This quote follows.

“In the ancient days the Christians understood this feeling; they are our only (though very imperfect) direct forerunners. The greatness of the ‘Church of the United Flock’ was known to them. They knew that resignation is virtue, and pride – a vice; that ‘We’ is from God and ‘I’ is from the devil.”

I think what is interesting about this is that D-503 is using this passage as justification for his behavior within the collective. When the juxtaposition is a collection of individuals acting on their own behalf. Because of that, it appears that actions of the citizens of the United State are benevolent and moral when in fact, it seems the opposite in the context of Christian thought.

What I found more relevant was the idea that elections were predetermined. There was even a comment about how in the past, indeterminate elections caused chaos. Bingo, one of the core tenants of modern political dysfunction has just been identified. Or should I say, modern philosophy.

How does capitalism flourish in modern China or Vietnam? It is all about stability, not the form of government. Stability allows foreign investment into these countries which in turn makes some rich. Those begin their own endeavors and they make more people rich. This is not something that is seen in South Sudan or Syria because no matter what the rules are, stability is far greater than how you identify your politics.

It is my argument that those that have figured out this premise are the ones that prosper the most from it. Turn the camera back to my own country and we have relative stability. This is why the truly rich and powerful don’t care which political party is running the country. The most damaging event that could possibly happen would be destabilization. Believe it or not, this is the politician game too. Don’t forget that when one person get rich, others get opportunity as well.

We have truly become a nation that values stability over freedom. Just this week, I saw the California governor arguing that citizens have a right to safety. I see safety as a proxy for for stability because it is all about limiting freedom to do so. Of course, his reference was ‘gun safety’ which certainly is taking aim at freedom. But, it could be speed limits or curfews or any other scheme that is for our own good.

Of course, our version of stability is a little messier than the United State. The ultimate case would be a society without descent which is what we have in the book. Or do we? Things are starting to show some cracks. More on that next week.

End Your Programming Routine: I’ll admit, I am getting a little lost in some of the weirdness. I am having to read things multiple times to get it. That being said, Zamyatin was exiled to France for a reason. He was dangerous to the Bolsheviks because he saw through some of their thin ploys on happiness and prosperity.

This is now the halfway point of the book. The plot is still as foggy and uncertain as ever. I don’t know where this is really going except trouble for D-503. We will get to the summary and analysis soon enough. Like all science fiction, this one is getting a little abstract for me. I will say that it is a good thing that have a science and math background. At least I can understand a little bit about what is going on.

For instance, there is a lot to do about the square root of negative one. This concept seems to bother D-503 quite significantly. In mathematics, the result of that expression is i or an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers are not real or possible. Maybe Zamyatin wasn’t as educated in math as he likes to let on through his writing because there is a mathematical proof to support this. If D-503 were really a mathematician, then he would know of such proof to accept the results.

It seems like both D-503 and O-90 are losing there minds. Upon a visit to the doctor, it is stated that D-503 is developing a soul and O-90 is not able to cope with his drifting away from her and into the arms of I-330. As a result, O-90 wants to leave him but first have an illegal conception and likely death.

As for the rest of the plot in this section, I find it a lot like Alice in Wonderland on LSD. There are dreams about sinking ships, trips into the closet tunnels, doctors with scissor lips and so on and so forth. It’s hard to tell if the translation is getting caught up in idioms or this is really some kind of psychedelic trip.

There is something that happens in passing that I think is kind of significant at least from the standpoint of mindset in the 1920s versus the mindset of today. There is a mention that 12 people were behind the thrusters of the Integral and were incinerated while testing the booster. Everyone pretty much went about their day as if nothing happened.

Maybe, just maybe this event is painting the picture of the society in We. These are nameless drones that work for the cause of the United State. There is no (legal) love, or procreation and very shallow relationships underlined by the mistrust of possible ill doings. In theory, there is no one to really miss you if you get incinerated. With the belief of not having a soul and no emotional connection, such an event has no consequence.

I do however think that the reason this short passage stands out is that there has been a shift in philosophy now versus when this was written. I think that the level of acceptable risk has gone way down over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for increasing risk but somehow life was grittier and more real. People took chances and made mistakes that had ultimate consequences.

After some quick research, it looks like the numbers per 100,000 have declined five-fold. Combined with the advancements in trauma medicine, we have a much lower tolerance and expectation that we will see this sort of thing. The shock of such a sight has come at a new generation of people.

End Your Programming Routine: In a lot of ways, being safer is a much better way to live. I can’t help to think that the tough, fatalist attitude was a better way to go. I guess when you are mission oriented, then it certainly is. Meanwhile, enjoy the acid trip of the story. We’ll see where this ultimately goes.

As the seasons change, I find that things go back to normal. It is hard to find time to read when it is light out until 10pm. At that point, I can barely keeps my eyes open let alone focus on what I am reading. Now that the sun is setting before 8pm, I am finding that I can make preparations to go to bed earlier and therefore pick up the pace on reading (at least stay ahead a little better).

So what is going on in this section? I guess you would say that it is the surreal struggle for right and wrong. D-503 is struggling with the attraction to I-330. It is now effecting his relationships with R-13 and O-90 as well as his work. Like all subversives, he needs to hide his behavior, so D-503 gets a doctor’s note justifying that he is sick. All this is really messing with his head, so maybe he is really sick or is D-503 just seeing things for the first time?

If you are old like me, then you might remember MagicEye from the 1990s. You tried and tried to see it, then once you saw it once, you couldn’t stop seeing it. Somehow the brain just got it and you could even see the image at a distance.

Isn’t that how all propaganda goes? You have to be programmed so that you don’t see the real picture. Once the doubt has been created then you start to see it everywhere. I remember a story distinctly from eighth grade, US history.

We were studying the 20th century progressives and the era of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. We had just gone through all this mantra of Republican party is the party of small government and Andrew Jackson was vehemently anti-national bank, what heroes they were. In the next sentence, how great all these new departments of government was like the USDA. It was necessary to protect the public. We needed the Federal Reserve to regulate monetary policy and keep the value of the dollar.

I was so confused, how could both be true and right? We had spent half a year drumming these principles to just change on a dime. We got in some sort of discussion about the dollar no longer being backed by gold. I remember the teacher’s comment how thankful he was that these experts were in charge of things. They were protecting the value of the dollar so that we didn’t have some kind of hyperinflation event.

The truth be told, I believed it for many years myself. I had no reason to think that protecting our money actually meant stealing our money with controlled rate inflation. It meant borrowing today to pay back with less valuable money in the future in the form of bonds. Did you ever have a savings bond? The maturity rate on the bond is paid with the same money that you paid. So, in seven years your $25 is now $50 – magic. Oh, by the way, they invented that money to pay the $50. Think about it…

Now, I don’t there was any intent of malice. I think the teacher was really expressing his true opinion. After all, he was taught by the same system that he was teaching. That being said, does anybody see anything wrong? Kids are impressionable. It took me many years to overcome this opinion. When you don’t know anything, the first opinion is the strongest one until evidence suggests otherwise. Just like Animal Farm, it was two legs bad and now it is two legs are bad unless you are a pig.

I also remember several grade school teachers with strong opinions. Those are ones that really stick in your head; stories for another day. But it is the reason that I get really alarmed when the school system starts deviating from teaching and heads off in the direction of indoctrination. It is not necessarily that people will be taught opinions that I disagree with but that most people won’t give a flying ‘F’ to do their own research or challenge an opinion. They will just accept it as status quo and move on with life.

And even worse, people love to get indignant in their wrongness. Exhibit A, how many people are pro-Ukraine? Ever wondered why their leader is an actor? This is deadly, dinner theater where nothing is really what it seems. The best possible outcome for everyone would be to end this war where it is at. It is what the people of Crimea want, to be part of Russia and not Ukraine.

Wrapping this back to the book a little better, we see what we know to see. If no one told us that there was a 3D picture buried in the graphics, then we might not even take a second look. That is a cool design. There is a reason that the United State is walled off from the rest of the world. It is only by manipulating the variables that you can that you can achieve any source of control over society. What is even better is when you believe that you have a choice and that you are being told information from a trusted source. Those people are never coming back to truth, they cant.

I don’t know where this book is going. But, the fact that it influenced Huxley and Orwell to me hint that things aren’t going to end well for D-503. If I were to go out on a limb, I would guess that D-503 is ultimately going to get caught and punished. This will be a warning to us all to pay attention to the friendly United State. Because no matter how much they mettle in the perfect version on humanity, life finds a way to evolve around it.

End Your Programming Routine: Before the Prussian Education System, people used to be taught how to think using classical philosophy. Logic, reason and rhetoric were seen as the most valuable education tools people could possess. Now we are taught what to think because this system was developed to train factory workers. They needed to be smart enough to read, follow instructions and maybe even innovate some. We don’t want them smart enough to know that there is a better life and starting their own factories. But, life has a way and some eventually do.

The next five chapters represent about 15 pages in my book and is very close to a third of the way though it. I am very surprised that despite the fact that this was written in the 1920s in Russian and translated into English that it is not more difficult to read. Truth be told as well, it really doesn’t feel that dated either. Sure, there is lack of reference to technology that we would see as ubiquitous but still there are flying cars and telephones.

To some degree, not integrating a lot of technology makes the book more timeless. Can you imagine if they popped in the eight track and then the pager went off? It would immediately date the work and damage the science fiction aspect of futurism. I think about my first house that was built in 1923. It had two electrical circuits, no bathroom or modern kitchen. Things will look very different in 500 years from now.

There is nothing that really blocks these five chapters together necessarily other than they are a convenient grouping for me. There are certainly some universal concepts that are mentioned. Eyes are the windows to the soul, religion (faith) is a fool’s errand compared to the reliability of the state, smoking and drinking are poisonous to the body and guilt will tear you up.

What is clearly brewing is that D-503 knows and believes that the rules of the United State are correct, moral and just. That being said for some reason I-313 has targeted him and is corrupting him by her presence. The juxtaposition of what D-503 knows to be right and what is actually happening is driving extreme guilt. And that guilt is beginning to drive him crazy.

Let us look at the argument of climate change. My new employer has a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. To do that, they are making policy changes and developing strategies to modify their own business. Then by proxy, the will start using these solutions as business offerings. Part of that strategy is employee awareness. I took some classes i.e. watch some videos on the subject.

I think that the people on the extreme edge of things would call me a climate denier. I like to think of myself as a scientist. A scientist does not ever say that the science is settled. A life’s work is always challenging your hypothesis with new data. A proper scientist says I believe this to be true and the data supports that. But, if there is new data, I will objectively look at it and evaluate it on its merits.

Some of the videos I watched were making wild claims. For instance, climate change was the reason and the cause that there is civil war in Syria. Now, lest we forget people that the Syrian civil was was a result of the Arab Spring revolution. This was a geopolitical proxy war incited by the United States to promote ‘freedom’ in mostly autocratic countries. The drought sure didn’t help but to say that is the cause is beyond stretching.

I use climate change as a reference here because there is a lot of push to make socioeconomic changes on the basis of little data. Many followers of the religion of the state think that we simply need to move from fossil fuel powered lifestyles to battery powered ones. If we simply transfer our individual CO2 generation to some corporate entities, then we can absolve ourselves of our contribution to greenhouse emissions and climate change.

Another suggestion that was made was to eat less meat. The claim is that giant factory farms raising animals adds a significant contribution to greenhouse gases. I am not for factory farming but I am sure not for plant based diets either. Do you know what runs agriculture? Fossil fuels. Fertilizer is made from cracking natural gas. Tractors and trucks run and will continue to run on them no matter how many plug in cars are on the road.

Do you see the connection yet? The religion of the state is pushing problems that benefit the stakeholders in the game. We have to eat less meat, we have to grow crops that are bioengineered to keep up with the demand. Eliminating the end consumer and only piping natural gas to the power producers and chemical companies streamlines logistics. Climate change is causing droughts endangering our ability to grow those crops in the first place. You better get on board.

I want the data. I want to know the guarantees that this is iron clad science (and not the global cooling and ice age that we were headed for in the 1980s). Most of all, where is the money where the mouths are talking? How much extra fuel does a motorcade of armored Escalades take to get to the private helicopter to get to the private airplane to go to Hawaii on a work vacation?

I heard a story from a relative that actually takes their own spoons to Dairy Queen so that they do not use disposable ones. That is how much they care and are sacrificing to do their part. And yet, are the leaders of this movement eating a plant based diet? Dare I say, no.

End Your Programming Routine: I am not against my company setting a target to be carbon neutral. I actually support it and I think it is smart to pick a direction, constrain ourselves and push solutions that work to make money. This is smart and conscious business. I am not for destroying the planet nor am I for being selfish. But let’s get real here. Before you swallow the bait, consider the motivations. Like it or not, humans are part of this world and every activity has an impact. For now, you have to pick what it is, not the religion of the state.