By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
George Orwell’s books that attempted to take a peak into the future, “Animal Farm,” and “1984,” which both appeared after the dawning and the darkened twilight of the Progressive Era, the horrors of fascism by Germany and Italy in World War II, and the re-birth of socialism by another name (progressive politics) in America and Western Europe, were required reading when I was coming up through the school system. Not so much when it comes to the younger generation, I noticed.
Orwell laid out a nightmarish dystopian future that would be very possible if the liberal left achieved the aims of their wildest socialist dreams. Personally, I don’t believe it is achievable, because economically everything would collapse before they got to the point that Winston Smith finds himself in, in Oceania. Venezuela is evidence of that.
Then again, the Chinese have figured out a way to stave off any collapse of their communist society.
In Orwell’s world of the future censorship and language are used to control the populace. History has been rewritten, and the news is constantly being altered to ensure the government is only viewed as being benevolent and effective.
–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into
history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the
Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past.”…George Orwell, “1984″
The Democrat Party believes in ushering in the age of Big Brother. They have been trying to get into play legislation that dictates how much water you use, how much soda you may drink, that you comply with their demand that you breast-feed your children, that you may not use plastic straws or reusable plastic grocery bags (unless you have special permission), you may not smoke tobacco but getting high on weed should be legal and encouraged, and that the news you hear and the education you receive is properly and meticulously adjusted to only support the party.
Even the President of the United States is not allowed to challenge the supremacy of the media.
In our current modern society we have restricted language with political correctness, installed safe zones, we have a media rewriting the news as the education industry rewrites history, and as a result we have a new reality rising that places patriotism as being hateful and fascist, and fascism and socialism as being a preferred goal (though under a whole different name . . . progressivism).
But, it goes way beyond language being manipulated into a tool of control. Humanism and the use of psychology has been blended to manipulate our emotions and create rage against enemies that may, or may not, truly exist. The opposition has been labeled racist, fascist, misogynistic and bigoted, despite lack of true evidence, and a manipulation of those terms (Hegelian Dialectic?). They seek a totalitarian empire, but one the people yearn for and welcome due to fears of the opposition that have been created by the very political party seeking to take complete control. Liberty has become slavery and tyranny. Free speech has become hate speech. Protection of a citizen’s privilege to vote has become considered to be a suppression of the vote. Invaders are given sanctuary. Moral standards have become immoral, and moral deviation has become virtuous.
The resemblance of “The Party” in Orwell’s book, “1984”, and the lessons provided in “Animal Farm” have been lost in the noise, and I am figuring the next step the Democrats will be pushing for will be to follow Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”, and begin burning all books that disagree with the liberal left perspective.