Distopia
I’ll be honest, I’ve never read all of 1984. I got about a third of the way into it and got frustrated with it’s slow pace and repetitive nature. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a basic understanding of it’s concepts. People don’t have to have read the book to know what Orwellian means.
And you don’t have to look far to see it either.
Can you even talk about illegal NSA wiretaps without referencing Big Brother?
Perpetual War
Did the US need to go to war with Iraq? Not really. Yes I believe the war in Afghanistan necessary but also more easily winnable, if there is such a thing, had the US not gone into Iraq. The invasion of Iraq can easily be seen as prolonging the conflict in Afghanistan.
Could the US have stabilized Iraq by now? Quite possibility. Throw a com-sat with high resolution imaging with thermal filters over the Pakistan-Iraq border, commit more forces, and actually equip and supply them adequately. But they haven’t done that. They have created a situation of perpetual war. Studies show incumbents get an additional 10% of the vote during wartime.
The endless war provides the excuse for unlawful and unethical actions that subvert rights. The re-arranging of government and granting of special powers and authority. If the 1984 analogy is too dated for you compare it to then consider Palpatine’s actions in the Star Wars prequel movies.
Newspeak
In 1984 the flow of information has become so controlled and devoid of reality a new language emerges so words can have an opposite meaning.
Think about Cheney one day claiming to be a part of the executive and later not. Consider Tony Snow claiming firings were performance based and then claiming he never said it. And why did the US invade Iraq? WMDs? Saddam? Spreading democracy? Depends when you watch But whenever one reason is claimed they insist it was the only reason there ever was. Hell, just listen to Bush speak and you’ll see that it isn’t consistent or plain, or indeed any other form of, English.
I could go on but alas I haven’t read the whole book. Perhaps I should, for the good of the nation of my birth.
Who else is there to save us? Okay, yea, Obama, McCain, Clinton, Colbert, and Stewart but I mean other than them.
