1984 Comparison -- Part X

- 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 keep their job or post.
-- People who will successfully accuse others of committing a crime they in fact committed.
-- Cheating on your spouse always leaves a wound that doesn't heal.

- Chestnut Tree
-- After a massive layoff, the remaining workers cling to their jobs. They are grateful to have been spared, and express loyalty to the company.
-- Eating up what the MEDIA dishes out without questioning it. Believing every word. Ignorance is Strength. Ignorance keeps one from being noticed or making waves in society.
-- Once you jump the shark, you can't unjump. All you can do is move forward, living with the knowledge.
-- narcissism is destroying our society. We are not trained to sacrifice for others. Our worst fears compel us to act for ourselves, without regard to our neighbors.
-- Video games and television such as Diamond Mind have replaced the need for endless war as distraction for the populace. People thinking of video games and movies do not think of the current state of affairs, and are less dangerous.
-- Justifying suffering by being grateful for what you have; loving your taskmaster b/c there is no other way.
-- 90% approval ratings for dictators in their home country -- approval powered by fear and suffering.
-- Winston's realization at the end is similar to an abused spouse who gives up.

1984 Comparison -- Part IX

- 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 recall what was said or done, the 8 with complete sincerity and honesty denies having said or done so. They tell themselves to forget and they do forget, completely and irrevocably. 8's are the masters of doublethink -- it's in their genetic code.
-- Like 8's, the Party refuse to remember recent history as it was -- they alter it to their needs. The present moment is all that matters.
-- In some ways, doublethink reminds me of religious conversions, where the person is forgiven of sins ... to the point that, in their minds, the sin NEVER HAPPENED. They believe that since God forgives and forgets, they, too, should forget ... and the sin is literally erased from history.
-- Aggressive people in charge tend to employ O'Brien's theory that making people suffer insures you are in control of them. Bosses want their presence felt -- they don't want independent thought. They like the vision of a boot stamping on a human face forever, as long as they benefit from it!
-- Captive experiencing Stockholm Syndrome
-- A person married to an abusive spouse

- Winston recovering, dreaming of the bullet in the corridor
-- Like a worker who senses he's going to be fired, but doesn't know when the exact moment will happen

1984 Comparison -- Part VIII

- 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 Germany, or slaves prior the Civil War in the U.S. Fear truly is the mind-killer, to quote from the novel Dune, as well as the heart and soul killer.
-- Watching others suffer injustices at work from managers and not speaking up ... praying that you can avoid the same injustices.
-- Fear of the authority figure firing you compels you to do certain things (like firing other employees), or not do certain things (like taking the time to help someone b/c you don't want to explain why you're work didn't get done) -- LME.
-- Food is a big issue for sixes like Winston.
-- Pain is a big issue for sixes like Winston.
-- It's hard for sixes to think or pay attention when they're hungry and/or in pain.
-- The equivalent of getting dumped by your partner after years of unquestioned loyalty.

1984 Comparison with modern society -- Part VII

- 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, meaningless entertainment programs, blogs, chats ... a million different ways for us to observe each other. We ARE the collective Thought Police.

-- The MEDIA focusing the public's attention on one event or tragedy, while countless others are forgotten.

-- Council on Foreign Relations

-- The G8

-- The WTO

-- "Here comes the new boss. Same as the old boss."

-- The more things change, the more they stay the same.

-- Republicrats and Demicans -- The two party system in the U.S. functions much like the three supernations in the book 1984. They basically enact the same legislation, regardless of party affiliation ... and the pundits who debate one another are the equivalent of the slave populations on the borders of the supernations, fighting the endless war.

-- The United States deposing a dictator that we supported two decades ago. Thankfully, the past cannot be rewritten. However, those who support current military action, like deposing Noriega or Saddam, have no choice but to forget our support of these dictators years before. The admission of a mistake weakens the present argument ... if we've made mistakes in the past, it's very easy to argue that our current actions to correct past mistakes are merely compounding the situation. In other words, leave well enough alone.

-- "Mutability of the Past" = Columbus "Discovered" America, Andrew Jackson "Expanded" America, etc. How about this: the Cherokees and other tribes "Discovered" imperialism, and shed blood and tears as Jackson "Expanded" America's borders. This is but one small example of how has been history is written by the victors, those in charge, the Party, Big Brother.

-- "The prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity" = No wonder logical solutions are seemingly never enacted by Government, under the guise of such buzz words as "bipartisanship" and "compromise."

1984 novel compared to our modern society: Part V

- 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 rules on sexual behavior for students at religious schools, hoping to turn that energy into recruiting fervor
-- Gays and lesbians describing heterosexual married couples as "breeders"

- The first time Winston and Julia meet with O'Brien
-- University teacher influencing students to see the "Realities" of the world
-- Religious leader indoctrinating followers
-- Politician changing his message for a different audience
-- The gullible public believing what they are told without thinking
-- John Q. Citizen trusting the father-figure/person with power to take care of them.
-- Believing a single official can influence big government.
-- Sacrifice, death ... as a political movement. Reminiscent of suicide bombing.
-- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1984 Comparison: Part III

- 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 Minutes Hate
-- Heavy Metal Concert
-- a fervent Charismatic church gathering
-- riots
-- An exciting play or moment at a sports event

1984 Comparison: Part II

- 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 [INSERT NAME OF COMPANY] ... meanwhile, you get a .5% raise every year, if you're lucky ... there's no room for advancement, the in-house "Training" isn't accredited (and therefore, meaningless) ... in other words, you don't feel the glorious successes [INSERT NAME OF COMPANY] is proclaiming.
-- Presidential Candidate X saying the economy has never been better ... meanwhile, you can't afford food or gas for your car ... and you're one of the lucky ones to live in America.
-- Any salesperson promising the world and delivering nothing.
-- The old Bait and Switch
-- Caveat Emptor
-- CNBC talking head trying to paint a positive picture during a stock market downturn

- War is Peace
-- Communism is our enemy; therefore, let's move our factories to their territory, so that they may become capitalists via osmosis.

- He who controls the present controls the past.
-- History is written by the winners.
-- Does anyone remember history anymore, besides historians and history buffs?
-- RetCons are commonplace in comic books and real life.
-- A politician could be caught on tape saying on thing, and will still deny it and get votes.

Part I: A Man in America compares his modern life to the fictionalized Man in Europe

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 me how you're pro-abortion and anti-death penalty. I want to bask in the Skew'ed logic. Or how you liked Saddam in power but want Tibet freed by any means necessary -- tell me more about how Buddhists deserve freedom but not Iraqis.
-- News media, explaining something I've known about for years to its audience of idiots in child-like terms.
-- Executives who refuse to apply common sense to corporate strategy for fear that shareholders will riot
-- Politicians afraid to do what the public wants because of a lobbyist or small
special interest group that provides funding to their campaigns

- George Winston not having a true friend
-- Welcome to South Florida. No wonder the 9/11 terrorists took up residence there.

- Newspeak
-- Text-messaging lingo