‘1984’ Articles

- Room 101, the rats– An instinctive fear — my room 101 is a home invader at night, or a mugger by day. The veil of safety being pulled; an inability to defend myself in the face of an unreasoning person with a gun or knife revealed.– People who will say or do anything to Full Article

- O’Brien interrogating Winston– Doublethink, as a philosophy, is rooted in the average behavior of personality type 8. Average 8’s have the ability to say or do something, and in the next moment forget what was said or done. When a 6, like Winston, who respects history and remembers, attempts to cause the 8 to Full Article

- Prisoners dragged off to and fearing Room 101– The electric chair for the unjustly convicted - Winston, sitting in white-walled prison cell– compliance with the group societal norms, even unjust norms, may become necessary for survival if one wishes to avoid being treated unjustly. Examples would include refusing to help Jews in Nazi Full Article

- Ignorance is Strength chapter by Goldstein – Promises by politicians running for office to fix things, change things, provide for the public welfare … only to forget the masses that got them elected once in office. – Telescreens able to transmit propaganda and monitor citizens 24/7 = the Internet, 24-hour news cycle, Full Article

- War and Peace chapter by Goldstein– The psuedo-paradox that is doublethink– LME (Lazy Man’s Ethics) as a guiding principle for warfare– A civilized nation with extensive knowledge of other cultures should not engage in warfare lightly or for political purposes. Such acts bring us within the realm of the 1984 Full Article

- Big Brother is Watching You– Google (search, Google earth, etc.)– Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion– Public Records Databases– Spyware, malware, and whatever thing they’ll come up with next– ISPs– Cameras on street lights– Cellphone companies tracking your location - Anti-Sex League– Strict Full Article

- Outer Party– Government employees - Inner Party– Local, state, and federal congressmen, judges, and other appointees - Big Brother– Governors, Presidents, and Prime Ministers - Emmanuel Goldstein– Third party candidate in the U.S.– Savage– Greek Philosopher– Biblical prophet - Shouting during the Two Full Article

- The glorious successes of the Ninth Three-Year Plan … meanwhile, you don’t have razor blades to shave with.– Emails, newsletters, and memos that proclaim how great things are at … meanwhile, you get a .5% raise every year, if you’re lucky … there’s no room for advancement, the in-house Full Article

I’ve decided to draw some analogies between 1984 the novel and my personal experiences. Read it and weep: - George Winston sitting in the cafeteria, feeling like he’s the only one who sees the truth and not some idiot quacking away the Party line reminds me of:– Blogs with a partisan, political bent. Yeah, explain to Full Article

Or, to paraphrase from the book 1984: “He who controls the present controls the past.” Here’s a quote from a CNN Money news article I read this morning on my cellphone (a.k.a. my modern morning newspaper): In September 2007, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 20% of subprime mortgage borrowers with Full Article