“1984” gives us new insight into Donald Trump’s incessant lying. We are not supposed to apply logic to contentions that Trump’s inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama’s. We are supposed to submit to power. The more outrageous the lie, the more Trump demonstrates his power when people go along.
Tag Archives: 1984
Trump’s “Truth” Is Like Big Brother’s
Like Orwell’s Big Brother, Donald Trump has been allowed to define truth. We’re all paying for it.
When Surveillance Is Incompetent
When, in a post last week, I found parallels between the National Security Agency’s extensive data mining attempts and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, I neglected to mention (as this New Yorker essay does) that one has to be careful with books that have themselves become symbols. When this happens, they become like clichés, losing their […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged eavesdropping, George Orwell, Jules Feiffer, Little Murders, NSA, surveillance Comments closed
Big Brother Is Data Mining You
The government”s Prism data-mining program predictably brings Orwell’s “1984” to mind.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged data mining, George Orwell, National Security Administration, Prism Comments closed
Bad GOP Messaging? Try Doublethink
Some recent GOP attempts to soften their message while retaining their policies remind one of Orwellian doublespeak.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Daily Show, doublespeak, Frank Luntz, George Orwell, GOP, John Stewart, politics Comments closed
Can Art Change Big Brother?
The Oscar-winning German film “The Lives of Others” speaks to the ability of art to change people’s lives.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Memory of Marie A", Bertolt Brecht, Film, George Orwell, Lives of Others, Secret police, Stasi Comments closed
Grendel as a Norwegian Christian Fascist
Apparently Anders Breivik was very well read and he mentions George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and Ayn Rand. What I find striking about them on the list is that they all articulate high levels of paranoia.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Anders Breivik, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Terrorism, Trial Comments closed
George Orwell and Waterboarding
An indication that defenders are not entirely at peace with the practice is their use of a euphemisms. They don’t call waterboarding “torture,” even though the U.S. used to call it torture and it has generally been considered torture since the Spanish Inquisition used it. They instead call it “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Anyone who knows George Orwell’s 1984 recognizes this as classic doublespeak.
Gambling at Goldman? Shocked, Shocked!
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Captain Renault famously exclaims in Casablanca, only then to be secretly presented with a bribe from the winnings. Why did this scene come to mind when I heard about the shenanigans of Goldman Sachs this past week? It did so, I suspect, because […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Banking, Casablanca, George Orwell, Goldman Sachs, Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, politics Comments closed
