Thoughts on 1984 in 2017

I just finished rereading ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ by George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) on July 4th of all dates. There was some news about 1984 purchases surging, and in liberal circles this was proudly assumed to be a direct result of the Trump presidency and administration. I think that is only part of the truth. Here are my main take aways after reading it in the present political climate.

1.) Authoritarianism can come from either side of the aisle. We typically associate it with extreme Right religious power grabbers. This characterization doesn’t really square with history though. Beware of the nasty forms of tyranny that pretend to be for the people. Bolshevism and Communism are often silently cheered amongst the Noam Chomsky loving left.

2.) Thought Police don’t have to be in uniform. In Orwell’s novel he describes how the children are the worst at incriminating people for thought crime. Whatsmore, governments don’t need telescreens to keep people from saying the wrong things. If our own peers can accuse us of thought crime (“you’re a racist, you’re an Islamophobe, you’re a snowflake, you’re a nazi”) then people will censor themselves. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t take real bigots to task. It means let them make fools of themselves and demonstrate with your wit and humanism how ugly and misinformed they are.

3.) We can’t give a single inch of free speech away. When you cease to speak freely you will quickly cease to think freely. Remember, when you deny a speaker’s right to say something, you take away your own right to listen. Let opinions different from your own serve to sharpen your rhetorical sword. Make your political opponent’s argument the best version of itself. Say it even better and more convincingly than they can, and then dismantle it with your own arguments.
Our language matters. Think of your own ways to say things, even if what you’re saying has been said on CNN or FOX in the usual sound bite.

4.) The censorship of speech and thought in 1984 mirrors the modern Left. The doublethink, from the Government and the News, mirrors the Trump cohort. Trump lies without the intention of internal consistency. One day we can be at war with Eurasia, and the next instance we are at war with Eastasia (from 1984). Counter every single lie told, even seemingly trivial ones.

5.) Never sacrifice “security” for freedoms. You’ll end up with neither. Beware of witch hunts and the mob mentality.