Orwell - A Political Prophet and Genius

When George Orwell wrote his novel, 1984 he was a bit off on his projected timeline, but his ability to predict the direction of world politics was impeccable. From his immersion in World War II Europe, Orwell experienced first hand the dangers of totalitarian government and in 1948, his book was published.

I was riding in my car today, listening to 1984 on my iPod, and came to this passage. I heard it once, and had to rewind it to hear it again. It's amazing the parallels to 2008 America.

"In the ramifications of party doctrine she had not the faintest interest. Whenever he began to talk of the principles of Ingsoc, doublethink, the mutability of the past, and the denial of objective reality, and to use Newspeak words, she became bored and confused and said that she never paid any attention to that kind of thing. One knew that it was all rubbish, so why let oneself be worried by it? She knew when to cheer and when to boo, and that was all one needed. If he persisted in talking of such subjects, she had a disconcerting habit of falling asleep. She was one of those people who can go to sleep at any hour and in any position. Talking to her, he realized how easy it was to present an appearance of orthodoxy while having no grasp whatever of what orthodoxy meant. In a way, the world-view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird."

(this passage can be found at the end of part 3, pg 156)

First, I think of how little most of the world is involved in politics. If you read the above, chances are you're not one of those people, but think about the people around you. Think about the uninformed things you hear (or say) everyday in relation to foreign or domestic policy. The scary thing is to realize why Orwell is talking about this at all... He's saying - and rightly so - that the ignorance of the general populace is the reason totalitarian government can exist and rise to power.

Orwell's character "knew when to cheer and when to boo, and that was all one needed." We find this even in the Americans who get out an attend a political rally. They cheer for things they think they like - all the while having no understanding of the policies themselves or the effects of implementing them. And surly if anyone was to stand up and explain these policies, they would develop "a disconcerting habit of falling asleep."

And it's these sleepers that the political regimes of the world count on to allow them to have free reign over liberty. As citizens are distracted more and more by over entertainment, they become increasingly disinterested in reality. Thus, allowing the government to grow and become more autonomous from the people they are supposed to represent.

I'm not sure if Orwell's 1984 and John's Revelation are inevitable prophecies or alterable warnings, but they are both certainly believable projections. If there's hope, it's in the awakening of the people to create a laissez-faires structure the governments of the world.

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