In “Prevention of Literature,” Orwell anticipates AI and how authoritarians will attempt to use it–and to ban or rewrite Literature.
Tag Archives: authoritarianism
Orwell Foresaw the Dangers of AI
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged artificial intelligence, George Orwell, Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun, Prevention of Literature Comments closed
How to Live under Authoritarianism
In “Envoy of Mr. Cogito,” Zbigniew Herbert informs us how to respond to authoritarian rule. We may need his poem as we face another four years of Donald Trump.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Envoy of Mr. Cogito", Greg Olear, Robert Haas, Zbigniew Herbert Comments closed
The GOP Has Learned to Love Big Brother
Many in the GOP who condemned January 6 when it happened now, like Winston Smith, love Big Brother.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 1984, Donald Trump, George Orwell, GOP, January 6 insurrection Comments closed
In a Dante-esque Prison of His Own Making
Trump’s suffering the the Manhattan courtroom is his own version of Dante’s Inferno.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Dante, Donald Trump, Fascism, Inferno, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Trump trials Comments closed
Beware Freeing an Authoritarian Gulliver
Dreams of a strongman freeing himself from Lilliputian ropes is a dangerous fantasy, Swift explains.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged autocracy vs. democracy, Donald Trump, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift Comments closed
Alexei Navalny as Harry Potter?
Some Russians saw Navalny, recently killed by Putin, as a Harry Potter “boy who lived.” That dream is gone but others live on.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "meeting after the savior gone", Alexi Navalny, Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, Lucille Clifton, Martin Luther King, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
Are You an Antigone or an Ismene?
In an essay calling Chinese activist Chow Hang Tung “the Antigone of Hong Kong,” Wendy Gan compares herself to Ismene.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged activism, Antigone, Chinese repression, Chow Hang Tung, Hong Kong, Oedipus in Colonus, political dissent, Power of the Powerless, Sophocles, Tiananmen Square, Vaclav Havel Comments closed
Nikki Haley, a Minor Character in 1984
Nikki Haley reminds one of Tom Parsons in “1984.” Also of one of T.S. Eliot’s hollow men.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hollow Men", 1984, Donald Trump, George Orwell, Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Nikki Haley, T. S. Eliot Comments closed
The Left Wants to Cancel Orwell? Nope
MAGA fans of 1984 are now accusing leftists of canceling Orwell. Which is not true.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 1984, Donald Trump, Feminism, George Orwell, Sandra Newman Comments closed
