1984: George Orwell: The Eternal Struggle of Class In Society

George Orwell was a genius. Throughout his career as a novelist and journalist, he focused on combating the ideologies of totalitarianism, including fascism, imperialism, and authoritarian forms of communism. His most famous works, 1984 and Animal Farm are writings in direct opposition to these systems of thought. He argues in many of his writings that, no matter who takes power and no matter what the powerful value politically and cuturally, the same historical pattern of society will emerge due to the need for wealth and power. Equality is impossible under the oppresive hand of Big Government.

1984 is a book that details what the possible future of mankind may look like if society ever collectively adheres to one of these systems of belief. The only way that this would be possible is if the lower classes were somehow made to be ignorant of reality and their position in the world. The book describes a world that cherishes endless war, the use of fear as a tool of control, and the endless pursuit of the destruction of independent thought, knowledge and wisdom.

Nineteen Eighty-Four has given the English language the phrase 'Big Brother', or 'Big Brother is watching you'. This is used to refer to any oppressive regime, but particularly in the context of invasion of privacy.--Wikipedia

Orwell firmly believed that Democratic Socialism was the only way for society to come close to breaking down the walls that keep the lower classes low, the higher classes high, and the middle classes middle.

I copied this from the book (almost) word for word so try and read it. I wouldn't have gone through all that work if it wasn't a really interesting read. I had to skip some parts that were directly related to the storyline, but the text is very informative. Fancy language, but very eye-opening if you get through it.

The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism

Chapter 1: Ignorance Is Strength

Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude toward one another, have varied from age to age; but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after the enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other.

The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim -- for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to to be more than intermittently concious of anything outside their daily lives -- is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal.

Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves, or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins all over again. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims. It would be an exaggeration to say that throughout history there had been no progress of a material kind. Even today, in a period of decline, the average human being is physically better off than he was a few centuries ago. But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer. From the point of view of the Low, no historic change has ever meant much more than a change in the name of their masters.

(With the rise of historical knowledge in the 20th century, more and more scholars became aware of this cyclical process and pattern throughout history. Ideas that focused on this pattern as being an unalterable law of human life became popular among the higher classes. Now that the cyclical movement of history was intelligible, it was seen as alterable.)

The familiar pendulum swing was to happen once more and then stop. As usual, the High were to be turned out by the Middle, who would then become the High; but this time, by concious strategy, the High would be able to maintain their position permanently.

The new doctrines arose partly because of the accumulation of historical knowledge, and the growth of the historical sense, which had hardly existed before the nineteenth century. The underlying cause for altering the pattern of history was that, as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, human equality had been technically possible. It was still true that men were not equal in their native talents and that functions had to be specialized in ways that favored some individuals against others; but there was no longer any real need for class distinctions or for large differences in wealth. In earlier ages, class distinctions had been not only inevitable but desirable. Inequality was the price of civilization. With the development of machine production, however the case was altered. Even if it was still necessary for human beings to do different kinds of work, it was no longer necessary for them to live at different social or economic levels. Therefore, from the point of view of the new groups who were on the point of seizing power, human equality was no longer an ideal to be striven after, but a danger to be averted.

In more primitive ages, when a just and peaceful society was in fact not possible, it had been fairly easy to believe in it. The idea of an earthly paradise in which men should live together in a state of brotherhood, without laws and without brute labor, had haunted the human imagination for thousands of years. And this vision had had a certain hold even on the groups who actually profited by each historic change. The heirs of the French, the English, and American revolutions had partly believed in their own phrases about the rights of man, freedom of speech, equality before the law, and the like, and had allowed their conduct to be influenced by them to some extent. But by the fourth decade of the twentieth century all the main currents of political thought were authoritarian. The earthly paradise had been discredited at exactly the moment when it became realizable.

Every new political theory, by what ever name it called itself, led back to hierarchy and regimentation. And in the general hardening of outlook that set in round about 1930, practices which had been long abandoned, in some cases for hundreds of years -- imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions, the use of hostages and the deportation of whole populations -- not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive.


---The rest of the chapter goes on to explain that in order to maintain the eternal structure of society, the ruling class would have to establish a way of controlling the thought of the lower classes. Language was changed to abolish words that encourage revolution and independent thought. Systematic surveillance of every member of society was needed to ensure that no one diverted from blind faith in their authority figures. In this way, the ruling class would govern for thousands of years, and any attempt to change the natural structure of human society would be crushed before any idea of revolution was even communicated between citizens.

In order to keep the population obedient... perpetual, never-ending wars are seen as necessary to keep the masses in line. Nationalism has historically been extremely prevalent among populations of people who's nation is at war. Patriotism is a by-product of the fear of the enemy that the nation is at war with. Of course, none of this is possible unless liberalism and independent thinking are stomped out of society (something that the bush administration has tried, and failed to do so far).

Modern Day
Fear: Terrorism; Bush's alarming policies point towards a shadowy enemy that lurks in more than 60 countries, including the US. His administration has a policy of using maximum force against any individuals or nations he designates as our enemies, without color of international law, due process, or democratic debate.
Control: Surviellance/NSA wiretapping and ignoring checks and balances, i.e. court orders and warrants.
Maintaining Structure of Social Classes: Reversing the progressive tax and movement towards perpetual wealth among the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans.
Endless War: Forcing democracy on the Middle-East.

Taken from http://www.rense.com/general15/happy.htm:

WAR IS PEACE. A reckless war that will likely bring about a deadly cycle of retaliation is being sold to us as the means to guarantee our safety. Meanwhile, we've been instructed to accept the permanent war as a fact of daily life. As the inevitable slaughter of innocents unfolds overseas, we are to "live our lives and hug our children."

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. "Freedom itself is under attack," Bush [says], and he's right. Americans are [losing] many of their most cherished liberties in a frenzy of paranoid legislation. The government proposes to tap our phones, read our email and seize our credit card records without court order. It seeks authority to detain and deport immigrants without cause or trial. It proposes to use foreign agents to spy on American citizens. To save freedom, the warmongers intend to destroy it.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. America's "new war" against terrorism will be fought with unprecedented secrecy, including heavy press restrictions not seen for years, the Pentagon has advised. Meanwhile, the sorry history of American imperialism -- collaboration with terrorists, bloody proxy wars against civilians, forcible replacement of democratic governments with corrupt dictatorships -- is strictly off-limits to mainstream media. Lest it weaken our resolve, we are not to be allowed to understand the reasons underlying the horrifying crimes of September 11.


Stand up against any regime that would discourage knowledge, encourage censorship, propogate fear and cater only to the needs of the richest and most powerful. The United States is on that road. Let's stop it before it gets out of control and the government starts telling us that the year is actually and eternally 1984.

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever" -George Orwell, 1984















http://www.hermes-press.com/wmd_gate.htm