Tag: Winston Smith

BURNING BOOKS IN A BRAVE NEW 1984 WORLD

“Those who don’t build must burn.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Nick Tyrone on Twitter: "This Venn diagram isn't possible. “1984” is set in an authoritarian future in which all pleasure is repressed; “Brave New World” in one where people are provided with

“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” ― George Orwell, 1984

The Venn diagram above perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our current dystopian world better than any academic drivel disguised as a scientific study or any regime media produced propaganda disguised as journalism. In fact, these three novels capture everything that has gone terribly wrong in our world, and I put the blame at the feet of totalitarian governments and an apathetic fearful populace who went along because it was the easiest path to follow.

These three novels, considered among the top 100 novels ever written, were penned between 1931 and 1953, during three distinct periods, which are reflected in the themes and story lines of their dystopian worlds. They were supposed to be works of fiction, providing warnings of what could happen if we made the wrong choices and trusted the wrong people. Sadly, they became user manuals for today’s authoritarian dictators in how to control, condition and cow a population of indoctrinated sheep, as displayed during the covid pandemic exercise.

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THEY WANT US TO FEAR ROOM 101

“You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.” – O’Brien – Orwell’s 1984

GreatWritersFranzKafka: George Orwell`s 1984: The Downward Journey by Brian W. Aldiss Fauci pressed over U.S. funding of cruel medical experiments on dogs and puppies; Beagles locked in cages with sand flies, vocal cords removed | National | stardem.com

“’By itself,’ he said, ‘pain is not always enough. There are occasions when a human being will stand out against pain, even to the point of death. But for everyone there is something unendurable — something that cannot be contemplated. Courage and cowardice are not involved.” – O’Brien – Orwell’s 1984

When the story broke about mass murderer Anthony Fauci funding the torturing and killing of puppies in Tunisia, with the picture of the puppies with their heads in cages so they could be eaten alive by hungry sandflies, after having their vocal cords slit (so the poor “experimenters” wouldn’t be subject to the harrowing howls of the dying puppy beagles), my mind immediately jumped to the climactic scene in Orwell’s 1984.

It’s funny, but it seems like I can find analogies to Orwell’s dystopian nightmare on a daily basis while observing how our government operates today. Room 101, introduced in the climax of Orwell’s masterpiece, is the basement torture chamber in the Ministry of Love. This is where the Party subject prisoners to their own worst nightmares, fears, or phobias as part of their intention in breaking the spirit of all dissenters. Resistance is futile when faced with the pure terror of your most horrible fears being realized.

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TECHNOLOGY: DISTRACTING, DISTURBING, DECEIVING & DELUDING OURSELVES TO DEATH

“What Huxley teaches is that in the age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one whose countenance exudes suspicion and hate. In the Huxleyan prophecy, Big Brother does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours. There is no need for wardens or gates or Ministries of Truth.

When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; a culture-death is a clear possibility.” ― Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Image result for huxley amusing ourselves to death

Something as mundane as using the restroom at work sometimes ends up triggering deeper thoughts about technology – its benefits, deficiencies and danger to our culture. I’ve been using the same restroom at work for the last twelve years. They remodeled the restroom a few years ago with the latest technology – automatic flushers, automatic soap dispensers, automatic spigots, and automatic towel dispenser. This technology is supposed to make things better, but from my perspective the technology just added complexity, glitches and unnecessary complications.

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Prisons of Pleasure or Pain: Huxley’s “Brave New World” vs. Orwell’s “1984”

by Uncola via TheBurningPlatform.com

 

Definition of UTOPIA

1:  an imaginary and indefinitely remote place

2:  a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

3:   an impractical scheme for social improvement

 

Definition of DYSTOPIA

1:  an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives

2:  literature:  anti-utopia

– Merriam-Webster.com

 

 Many Americans today would quite possibly consider Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” to be a utopia of sorts with its limitless drugs, guilt-free sex, perpetual entertainment and a genetically engineered society designed for maximum economic efficiency and social harmony.  Conversely, most free people today would view Orwell’s “1984” as a dystopian nightmare, and shudder to contemplate the terrifying existence under the iron fist of “Big Brother”; the ubiquitous figurehead of a perfectly totalitarian government.

Although both men were of British descent, Huxley was nine years older than Orwell and published Brave New World in 1932, seventeen years before 1984 was released in 1949.  Both books are widely considered classics and are included in the Modern Library’s top ten great novels of the twentieth century.

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