Big Brother...

... is watching.

I decided to quickly review Orwell's wonderful (or scary?) take from his 1984 novel and there are so many similarities to what is taking place right now, here, in this day, in the US.

A few things stuck with me:
- "Doublethink" which enables individuals to accept party propaganda despite blatant contradictions and erodes independent thought to the point where individuals begin to believe anything the regime says... This brainwashing methods basically requires holding two conflicting beliefs as true (eg. the Ministry of Peace is actually devoted to War; ignorance is strength, etc), often clashing with personal memories and sense of reality.  Boy! does that ever describe the MAGAts followers??!!

- in "1984" the party's propaganda functioned similarly to Stalin's (a source of inspiration for Orwell) who aimed for total control by enforcing widespread poverty, famine, and fear to compel obedience.  We're not quite at the famine and poverty stage, but if the trade wars continue and shelves start emptying, who knows...

- "Newspeak" -- Orwell's language manipulation -- is central to the party's ability to restrict unapproved thoughts by limiting vocabulary and therefore the possibility of rebellious thoughts. If we lack the right words, can we genuinely perceive or understand something? My guess is that the elimination of anything scientific and academic in nature and the curtailing of diverse viewpoints are today's ways to get there...

- technology: "1984" mentions a number of technologies which were totally fantasy back in 1949 but are very much part of our ecosystem today; the "telescreen" (screens in homes and public spaces broadcasting the regime's messages -- and monitoring civilians); the "speakwrite" -- devices that convert speech into text along with the "versification" -- device that generates music and literature that serves the party (hello Alexis, Siri, Spotify and of course, the advent of AI...)

A tad scary, even if you don't know the ending of the "1984" novel, don't you think?