Tag: 1984

February 26, 2021 – 1984 1:3

Going through my analysis is kind of like watching paint dry, right? Of course, I am doing the best that I can but I do recognize that I am moving kind of slowly. I thought maybe we would savor one chapter a week or so.

Chapter three is another short chapter. It starts out with a dream that Winston has and finishes with another session with the telescreen. Instead of introducing new terms, this chapter starts to develop the idea of the effects of Big Brother.

Erasing Emotion- Strong themes are building that tie emotion to being human and how over time emotion is being stripped. Love and sexuality continue to dominate the list of emotions. There is the love of his mother and then the sudden appearance of a naked woman without context to the rest of his dream.

It is not the first time that we have heard that Winston pre-dates the transition to Big Brother. But he was young and therefore lives in a partial world of pre-governmental transition with some remnants of what we would consider family values. We are led to believe that his mother died as a result of loving her son, Winston. It is a thought crime after all.

Distinguishing emotion and function I would say differentiates humans from machines and possibly humans from other animals. So, by removing emotion it sort of homogenizes people as really an entity rather than an individual. Supervised activities such as periodic calisthenics further attempts to keep people’s minds from wandering but also unifies common experience; another standardization tactic.

Dreams and sexual repression continue to build in the next couple of chapters. Those will be covered when we get there. I just had a wild hare and searched the connection between Freud and Orwell right now as I was writing this. It would seem like I am not the only one to have seen a commonality. Here is an example.

That is just one example of the multiple opinions and connections that people have made. It does appear that people have put much more effort into this than I have, for instance I saw a Master’s Degree thesis in my search. I have personally never studied psychology so I am not really qualified to speak on the validity of the argument. However, I do recognize the components of Freudian psychology and the connections to the story line.

Wow, that just twisted my mind. Here I was thinking that this story was a brilliant forecasting of the future and it could be much more dimensional then that. Maybe the story accidently predicted the future or maybe the Freudian theory really is driving the behavior of humanity? I am going to leave it there for today as something to think about.

February 17, 2021 – 1984 1:2

Chapter two of the first section builds on the first chapter. It peels back a little more of what life is like with a neighborly interaction and the struggles of rationing and substandard infrastructure. What’s more, a few concepts are further developed.

Propaganda- Once again, the slogans “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery” and “Ignorance is Strength” are brought up. We learn that these slogans are ubiquitous are found on money, posters, tax stamps, etc. The use of propaganda is to unite the population on simple slogans. It might remind us of “Make America Great Again” or “Yes, We Can”.

Indoctrination- begins at a very young age. There are the Spies and the Youth League which seem to be these Cub Scout/Boy Scout analogs of kids organizations training into the system. The focus is on activities relating to eventual military or government service such as physical fitness and hard skills like bushcraft. There is reference to kids turning the parents into the “Thought Police” which is some organization for eradicating non-conformist thinking.

Scarcity- Another control mechanism to manipulate the population. From what I can gather throughout the book, the situation is real. By controlling diet, heat, living conditions and even pleasures Big Brother can exert some constant level of control. They can also use situational change to effect the citizens perception of reality. In essence, no one believes anything because everything is wrong making it difficult to know if something is really true.

This is a short chapter I feel to support that home life is as dire as work life was in chapter one. Minor character development paints similar interactions regardless of the circumstances or locations. Things don’t look to good for Winston as he is having wandering thoughts and treasonous writing.

Feb 3, 2021 – 1984 1:1

I think that it was three days ago, I was listening to Glenn Beck while I was getting ready for work. Of all the people in talk radio, he is one of the people that I like. I think that he really does use his brain and is not afraid to change his opinion if the facts warrant a change. That being said, he does stand for principles and he is one of the few in that space that has a grasp on the what is happening, not just echoing talking points.

He started talking about the book 1984. I started listening more intently because I knew that I was going to start writing about the subject. There wasn’t much detail in the discussion but one of the things I heard was that sales have skyrocketed in the last year. I looked it up to see if it was true, and here is what I found.

I really haven’t been plugged into the latest news of the day, but I really didn’t realize the references to the 1984 have been so prevalent. I didn’t realize that so many people were making the same connection that I have. With that, let us get into it.

I am going to refer to the indexing as Section and Chapter. This post will be discussing Chapter 1 of Section 1. I think rather than summarize the entire book each day, I will highlight the concepts that I thought were applicable to us. There is a brief introduction into the world of Winston Smith, the main character. It describes the construct of the political system and the basic work life and home life routines.

The following are some of the important constructs of the book and a bit of my analysis.

Cultural Divide: There appears to be two sides in this world. One side is called ‘Big Brother’ and the other side is the ‘Proletariat’. It is portrayed as Big Brother is the side that is and agrees with the government and partakes in the benefits that come with that membership. The proletariat is a class that is more like the ‘untouchable’ caste in the Indian culture. These are people that are not involved with the government in any form and the two groups do not interact in any form – for risk of retribution from Big Brother.

I think in today’s lens, I would put the what we would call ‘Big Brother’ are all of the interests sympathetic to the government angle like all forms of media and related groups right or left. While not a perfect match, the ‘proletariat’ would be those that do not participate. They are the dirty and nasty which the party will not associate because they are not worthy.

Telescreen: This is a device that information is put out and has two way capability. They are also ubiquitous. They are in every home and workplace. As a party member, you are expected to listen and interact with this device at all times.

I think the telescreen is what today’s cell phone is becoming. As we all know, the phone knows our location, it can listen to what we are doing and saying. Based on the profile that our data builds, we start to get fed only information that fits our profile.

Newspeak: This is a particular language that is spoken as well as a system of communication. So the system part, this is a way of changing facts to fit the narrative. It can be goods produced or history. Everything bit of data is cross referenced so that an attempt to change the permanent record has to be made for all media items such as newspapers, books and television programs.

In our culture, I think both sides are using this tactic. For example, does everyone remember when wearing a mask did prevent the spread of Covid-19? Now, there seems to be many studies supporting the opposite conclusion, hmmm. It seems that most ‘science’ today is done in a way to provide proof of a political agenda and not to learn the truth.

Hate Week/Two Minutes Hate: The two minutes hate is a mandatory, daily rally to reinforce the agenda of Big Brother as well as communicate the Newspeak changes for the day. Because the facts are always changing, the party members are conditioned to accept whatever the story is presented at the moment as truth.

Hate Week is portrayed as a festival celebrating the propaganda. Said another way, a week of constant hate. The tactics of xenophobia (build a wall or Black Lives Matter) combined with constant warfare as our side is bringing liberty to a country that doesn’t know it is the perfect cover align the party members with Big Brother.

Already in Chapter 1, we can see these concepts have striking corollaries in today’s world. I want to point out that no matter what side of the left/right dichotomy you chose today, these tactics are in play. That being said, the only way to not be manipulated is to not play the game.

January 20, 2021- An In-depth Study of George Orwell’s 1984

Wow, I have to knock the cobwebs out. And let me say, since my last entry the truth about what our future will eventually look like has been exposed. The move to silence descent against the establishment outed itself in a big way post the ‘capitol riots’. In no way do I condone or side with with the actions to break into the capitol. But, what a perfect opportunity create a tinderbox, build the fuel and when a spark eventually happens, watch it burn.

I know I have been AWOL in the last couple of weeks. Maybe I will go back to this period sometime in the future. I started writing this post on January 6, stubbing out what I thought I was going to write about January 8 before life got in the way. But for now, I want to look at the future. One of the things that has been on my mind since November of last year was the book 1984. I read it in 2019 for the first time as part of the local library reading program. I didn’t realize how much of an impact that book make in my mind.

When my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said the book. And, I got it. So I have been slowly reading it to really digest what is going on. I plan on writing about some of the real parallels in today’s culture and it’s futuristic relevance for something written seventy years ago.

If you want to read along with me, I would love it. I just want to warn you that this will be a series of articles that talk about the plot and the details within the book. So, consider the spoiler warning now and don’t be mad if we turn everything inside out when you haven’t had a chance to read the book.

This is a book that can be found in the library, audio book and purchased from $0.99 and up. It wouldn’t surprise me if every used book store has a copy. To me it appears that the average price is around $13.50 for paperback. So, if you are cheap like me you can look for a bargain or if you are just ready to get started it wont impact the budget too much. There is also a movie, of which I haven’t seen so I can’t vouch for it or the accuracy but I suppose that if you were just interested in the story and less so the implications you could check that out.

As a child, I spent a lot of time reading. My memory of summer was going to the library once a week and checking out several books. I would sometimes read two or three books a week. That has sort of diminished since college. It is not that I don’t enjoy it, I have lots of other pulls on my time as well. I am also part of the culinary book club so much of my reading time has been devoted to reading in that genre over the last couple of years. It wasn’t until I left my job that I started thinking about reading more.

Because of that, I have been tossing around the idea of an AltF4 reading list. I have been thinking about some of the books that have been really impactful in my life and building something that sort of encapsulates my brand of wackiness.

High school and college almost ruined literature for me. I can think of lists of ‘classic’ titles that I have read that I really would never care to open again. My anti-establishment streak made me suspicious of the designation ‘classic’ and the analysis to the nth degree made me question the author’s intent matched the analysis done in higher level English methodology.

I am open to being wrong here. For instance, my son’s favorite book is Oliver Twist which he has read many times. I have only read it once in AP English and that was enough for me. We both have different reactions to the title. He likes the story, enough said and I can respect that. In school there was a whole level of subtext applied that I never really bought into and wiped out of my mind.

If you really boil it down, not one title that I read in school was ever supported with evidence that a title was written with a deeper meaning in mind. I have a hard time justifying the existence of the analysis. I suppose that it is not to say that it can’t exist, but I haven’t seen evidence of such. This is not that. This isn’t a study into the subtext of 1984 but a comparison of the novel to current activity.

So, enough rambling. Now you know that I like reading and why; what presses my buttons on the subject and that I am starting a series on the analysis of 1984 by George Orwell. I hope that you will join me.

November 17, 2020 – When will 2020 cross into 1984?

I have been mulling over this topic for a while now. One catch-22 is that I want to stay as apolitical as possible. But I watch some of the things and I have a hard time not screaming for people to wake up as they seem to be stuck in a logic wormhole. I am trying to evaluate fake news and propaganda versus real problems and I have a difficult time separating or seeing the truth.

One thing that is extremely apparent is that many people are scared out of their minds over Covid-19. I hear it and see it all over the place, particularly with the more aged and health susceptible people in my life. I know people that still believe hiding out or washing and sterilizing shopping bags, voting for the right person or refusing to associate with people will tip the scales on this virus and outcome.

I am one of those people that believe that collectively we have more in common than we have differences. I watch in disbelief as our governor threatens the citizens of my state. And, just as fast as the threats went up, they seem to have been whitewashed. It is difficult to find the quote in the news stories for this post.

November 11, 2020; OPB

I would like to point out (again) the extreme lunacy in the current social distancing schemes by using an example.

  1. Put on mask to leave the car and enter a restaurant
  2. Be seated, take off mask
  3. Be served with mask off
  4. Get up to go to the restroom, put on mask
  5. Return to table and remove mask

Does anyone remember the earliest debates about mask usage? They were originally not recommended, largely because they are generally not considered medically viable. Just as all things get thrown into the meat grinder and become distorted and re-propagandized, it has now become the ‘must have’ accessory to make people feel better about doing nothing. I believe that the guidance was changed for the appearance of doing something that we as humans have very little control over, the spread of a disease.

I am not saying masks are equated to freedom. What I am saying is that people are losing their ability to discriminate between fact and feel good. I have no issues with wearing a mask when required to participate in society. Any private entity has the right to make rules or conditions for entry i.e. masks. People have the right to ask people to adhere to hygiene practices or social distancing to enter a residence. I do have an issue when the government limits how society will associate together. This I find to be strictly un-American practice.

People are abdicating their responsibility to use common sense in situations and wanting the government to handle it by policy, rule and regulation. I draw that conclusion based on the overwhelming election results to double down on state policy that will never work. I read a headline this afternoon that 75% of Americans support an national mask mandate. I am wondering if this is really true or this is another propaganda push?

I will leave with the non-scientific but logical litmus test for this entire situation.

  1. Does the bubonic plague still exist? The answer is yes.
  2. Does polio still exist? The answer is yes.
  3. Does the Spanish flu still exist? The answer is yes.

Covid-19 is never going away. It is never going to be eradicated. Children still get cancer, not just smokers. Shit happens and we don’t know why. Pharmaceuticals may some day do wonders, for now have to do the best with what we have.

I feel like I am living in the transformation of the world of George Orwell’s 1984. We have the surveillance state with the Patriot Act in collusion with social media. We have perpetual war in the middle east and Afghanistan. We have xenophobic hate egged on by the partisan groups. We have a population that subsists on processed food garbage and funded by government rations. Most of all, we have a population that is numb to critical thinking and is spoon fed ‘news’ that gets rewritten .

Just wait, there is going to be some neighbors turning other neighbors in when seven people are gathered. I can sense that it will soon be time for my re-education.