1984 : A Novel of Political Warning

George Orwell's 1984 is a novel a future dominated by a totalitarian government. The novel was published in 1949 but still remains relevant to contemporary  political and cultural commentary.  World War II saw the attempt of fascism to dominate the globe and following the post-war period tensions with Stalinist totalitarian communism. Joseph Stalin's policies were abandoned in 1956. Fascism died with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini following the defeat of the Axis powers. These political systems built by powerful autocrats were the basis of Orwell's novel. The world that Winston Smith, the protagonist of the tale lives in is similar to Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, or the Soviet Union. An employee of the Ministry of Truth, Winston begins to question the political system of  the state of Oceania. Britain is no longer a separate nation, but a province of a large empire. London the city in which Winston resides is much different from what it was in the past. The state has constant surveillance and dominated by a mysterious tyrant known as Big Brother. The Inner Party dominates the society and never tolerates any dissent. Winston becomes curious of the past before the revolution that brought the party to power. This is the ultimate police state. Everything is controlled down to speech, personal interaction, and leisure activities. The population is manipulated through propaganda, lies, and the distortion of the past. Oceania is ether in a state of perpetual warfare with Eurasia or Eastasia. Citizens are either distracted by warfare or party propaganda to realize that they a stuck in an obsequious position to the state. Perpetual warfare, media manipulation, and the desire for groups to follow oppressive systems have been constantly occurring throughout history. Orwell's novel is a warning about political power, public manipulation, and the dangers of oppressive government.
     The world of 1984  is a place dominated by superstates. This includes Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. They are in a permanent state of warfare. There is a purpose for this continued conflict. The state of Oceania must present the image that it is providing protection from dangerous enemies. The reality is that the Inner Party and the English version of socialism known as Ingsoc are more of a threat. The state uses torture and control to get the people to submit to its will. One slogan of the Party declares " war is peace." War through out history war  has been justified by both democratic and authoritarian governments  to either protect the citizens of a state or nation. All the abuse and warfare Oceania does they justify by saying it preserves the revolution. The novel does not specifically explain why the major superstates are at war or the particular circumstance that exacerbated it. Force and war does not bring peace, rather dominance of the victor power. The slogan "war is peace" could easily be translated as peace through strength. The United States has used the concept of humanitarian intervention to invade nations that did not pose a security risk to it. Nazi Germany justified war believing that the German people needed living space for their growing population. The British Empire and France  justified their conquest as a need to bring civilization to the world.

The concept of a just war is an example of double think. Newspeak is a term used for the English language used in the world of 1984 . This is different from the oldspeak, which was not influenced by the ideology of the Inner Party. Double think requires that one must adhere to a falsehood and then simultaneously refuse to acknowledge that its not true. Just war is double think in action. The majority of Party slogans are double think. War works to keep society unified. When nations are at war opposing views or opinions are often stifled for the cause of blind patriotism. Questions of what is ethical are ignored in favor of a unified public opinion. Permanent warfare has become the normal state of affairs not only in this work of fiction, but the contemporary world. 

        Political power is concentrated all into the hands of Big Brother and the government ministries. Without a balance of power or a distribution of it  abuse and corruption will be more likely to occur. There are multiple ministries that run Oceania. Winston Smith's place of employment is the Ministry of Truth and its role as the text states " concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and fine arts." The modern day media functions almost in a similar fashion. Twenty-four hour cable news is owned in America by five major media corporations which include News Corporation, the Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, Viacom, and Hearst Communications. Consumers only get one perspective and message with the illusion of choice. The Ministry of Truth does not provide perspectives, but is engaged in censorship and distortion. The Ministry of Peace ironically concentrates its work on warfare. Like many nations, they are preparing for the next conflict. The Pentagon has been planning America's wars for half a century. Certain nations like Iran or North Korea are presented as lethal threats even though their armies are not on the same strength level of the United States. Permanent warfare distracts from domestic problems. This also can be related to Fascist Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. A war against another nation distracted Italians from the strain of the Great Depression. The Ministry of Love has the responsibility for law enforcement in the novel. Totalitarian regimes of the 20th century justified police states by claiming they were protecting citizens from enemies of the state. Adolf Hitler made the claim that communists and Jews were out to destroy Germany. This deflected attention away from the fact that people were slowly losing their rights and freedom to a one party state. Stalin used the possibility of counterrevolution and Western sabotage to build his police state apparatus. The NKVD, OVRA,  and Gestapo policed the people in the  totalitarian states to prevent challenge to their monopoly on state power. 

All governments claim to love their people,but abuse or coerce them in some way. Such behavior and mentality can be explained by another party slogan "freedom is slavery." A government defines how much freedom citizens can have. They can either take it away or extend it through legal means. When political power is concentrated in the hands of a few they use the excuse of protection of the public or an enemy to legitimize oppression. The Ministry of Plenty concentrates its efforts on economic affairs. Throughout the novel people of Oceania are forced into rationing supplies. Multiple times it is mentioned there is a shortage of razor blades or chocolate. When Julia a woman that Winston becomes romantically involved with from work exposes that the Party only does rationing to have more resources for itself, this is a major revelation. The totalitarian states such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy put  their political parties first rather than the people. The economic power was directed by state hands. The difference with fascism was that it sought an alliance with big business which projected its self as corporatism. Under Stalinist totalitarian communism Five Year Plans were introduced to induce development of the economy and form a classless society. These programs only created a society in which their was three classes : the communist party, the people, and the peasantry. Giving a leader too much power results in abuse. Big Brother could be any political leader from any time period. Politics does attract individuals who are power hungry, but only legal limitations to an office and prevent rise of a tyrant. If the rule of law is disregarded and basic rights are removed, political systems are vulnerable to strongmen. 

         Public manipulation is a prominent theme in 1984 . This is represented by the intense surveillance from the telesrceens and the fact that the public watches them. The telescreens are analogous to television or social media of the contemporary period. There is a common ritual that is encouraged by the Party referred to as Two Minutes Hate. The public gather to the telescreens to project vexation at what is perceived as an enemy of the state. It could be one of the superstates that Oceania is at war with or a convenient scapegoat. Emmanuel Goldstein the leader of the Brotherhood  serves as a detested figure for the public to hate. The Brotherhood is a type of underground organization which opposes the Party. This hatred and manipulation create unity among the public. It stops them from critical thinking or independent thought. Very few people question why they are engaging in such practices. The slogan "ignorance is strength" explains the motives of the government. The less the public knows the easier they are to control and manipulate. The character of Parson's represents the kind of citizen an oppressive government wants. Winston described him as "a fattish man but an active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms- one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom,  more even than the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended. "Children also in the world of 1984  are encouraged  to abandon independent thought. Parson's children are brainwashed to the extent that they are disappointed they cannot witness an execution of Eurasian prisoners. Parson's job at the Ministry of Truth was to be an organizer of public events through various committees. One of the methods that oppressive governments use to  maintain control is through promotion of entertainment, sporting events, and public rallies. Mass media has the ability to distort the public's thinking. This is why it is troubling when various corporations begin to merge. Alternative sources of information are effectively eliminated. 

There is even a Hate Week for the public, which involves rallies, speeches, and demonstrations against the real or imagined enemies of Oceania. The Ministry of Truth does such a great job at distortion, Winston even has difficulty remembering what life was like before the Revolution. He was too young to remember specific details, but occasionally small memories of his mother he can recall. The Party  has distorted the historical memory so much, they even made the ludicrous claim they invented airplanes. People who resist become unpersons or vaporized. That term in Newspeak means that a person is not only executed, they are obliterated as if they never existed. A common practice in Stalin's Russia was to alter photographs of party members that had been purged. Doing this made it seem as if they never existed and the memory of them was destroyed. The desire is not just to control people and their physical spaces; one must have mastery over their thoughts and emotions. This was articulated by O'brien  a member of the Inner Party and a Thought police agent. Winston seeking to join the Brotherhood is discovered by the Though Police and later tortured by O'brien. The problem with Winston is that he is no longer susceptible to the system of public manipulation. The issue O'brien has with him as he states is that "you are thinking." The Party does not want to just manipulate the population, rather they want to take this a step further. People must be conditioned and entirely transformed that they love the system as well as becoming a unit of it. Some will be more easily influenced so much that they cannot distinguish fact from fiction. The telescreen and its prominence represents the problem of mass media manipulation of the public. Radio, TV, and internet are mediums in which the modern day public consume their information, yet they do not question its source or motive.  

What should be sources of information and facts are nothing more than tools of indoctrination. This results in a culture of group think in which debate, opposing views, or free thought are nonexistent.  The best way to subjugate the population is to get them to love their state of slavery. Big Brother and the Party have done that through means of technology and propaganda. 

        There is a danger that comes with oppressive government. It does physical and mental harm to the individual. The physical harm comes from torture and violence used by the state. Winston experiences the physical harm when he is tortured in Room 101. He sustains beatings and sustains electric shock in the process of being reeducated into the Party's ideology. Extreme violence was a characteristic of totalitarian states that was done by various police forces operating in Germany, Italy, and Russia. O'Brien describes to Winston during this process of torture and interrogation that mere submission is not the goal : "we do not destroy the heretic because he resists us; so long as he resists us we can never destroy him." He expounds further saying " we convert him, capture his inner mind, we reshape him." The essence of totalitarianism or any oppressive system is that an individual must completely submit themselves to the ideology. The state has more importance than the individual and in turn the citizens only devotion should be to the regime. Those who do not follow the status quo will be faced with violence. The fear or threat of such violence can prevent resistance. Winston and Julia were arrested in the novel with no legal means of defending themselves. Oceania has no problem with executions or torture against those they consider enemies. Those who are detained my not even be guilty of anything. Winston was put through so much torture he betrays Julia. She was also detained and subject to abuse. This makes for a very awkward reunion when they are released. The world of Oceania is very restrictive in every since of the word. Social interaction, activity, and society are rigidly under supervision. 

Nazi  book  burning was an act of extreme censorship. 

The one problem is that the Party cannot completely control a person's thoughts. The attempt to by charging people with thought crime, but the emotions and thoughts of people  cannot be controlled . Free speech and free expression represent values of a liberated society. This is why Winston begins to write in his journal early on in the novel. When putting his thoughts in writing he can truly be free. Jean Paul Sarte called writing a revolutionary act.Writing can convey new ideas, challenge the society at large, or question common held values. This is why intellectuals and artists are targeted by oppressive regimes, because they are the source of new ideas that could be a threat to political dominance. The stifling and the psychological imprisonment of the individual. Although he was not imprisoned at this point, he was still in a sense in confinement. The people are caged animals, convinced that  every action taken by their government is for a higher ethical goal. The damage that oppressive government does to entire populations can be seen, but rarely is there emphasis on how it harms people on a personal level. Winston does not know what happened to his mother or sister. The Party encourages friends to turn against friends and families to spy on families. Individuals live in fear of the Thought Police . People living under such conditions are in an atmosphere of censorship and even impose on themselves for their own safety. Winston lives with the fear that his diary and his true thoughts will be discovered. The Thought Police could be anywhere in Oceania. Winston articulated " people simply disappeared always during the middle of the night."  Thoughtcrime Winston describes in the novel " was not a thing that could be concealed forever." The constant trepidation had taken a toll on Winston. The use of secret police forces and armed forces to enforce law create a  nation that functions like a large prison. 

The Blackshirts were responsible for enforcing fascist rule in Italy. 

The public becomes prisoner to the wardens of an all powerful state. O'Brien could easily be a fascist  or a totalitarian Stalinist communist, but his devotion is more fanatical. He has the desire to control the minds of people. This explains why Winston was released. It was more of an experiment to see if he could be reeducated to loving Big Brother. The Totalitarian states restructured public education to be an auxiliary to promoting their political convictions. Winston even becomes so frustrated with such a life under oppressive rule he writes " they'll shoot me I don't care they'll shoot me in the back of the neck I don't care down with Big Brother I don't care they always shoot you in the back of the neck I don't care down with Big Brother."  The cult of personality is a large feature of both totalitarian and authoritarian states. This can even emerge in democratic societies. The over zealous devotion to one leader and ideology enables an oppressive political system. What is does to people living in such political systems is that they believe their own myths. Rational thought is replaced with extreme nationalist jingoism. 

The cult of personality almost becomes a new religion 

    The leader and the political party in such governance system elevate themselves to the status of being gods. They are worshiped and obeyed without question. This distorts the public's thinking so much they have no problem attacking anyone who has an opposing view. Big Brother represents the government's extensive reach in daily life. His presence can be anywhere through posters, telescreens, and  other visual media. Although this induces a level of trepidation, Big Brother also wants to be loved by the people. When Winston is shot at the end of the novel it states "he won a victory over himself " and that "he loved Big Brother." Autocratic leaders not only demand obedience, but love from the people they rule. People are forced to show this emotion whether or not they actually like the leader or not. Winston's transformation from writing "down with Big Brother" to loving Big Brother demonstrates how such a system can manipulate and damage people. The Party and its oppressive system they built function on censorship, extreme patriotic nationalism, and a extensive police state. The people have to be manipulated to such a degree that the only thing they will just is the government. 

       There is a very significant part of  1984 that provides an historical analysis for the evolution of the state and governance systems. O'Brien when he was posing as a member of the Brotherhood provided Winston a copy of  The Theory of Oligarchical Collectivism. The book that Winston reads discusses the inner workings of the Party's political philosophy. The text makes important observations about society and the rise of hierarchies. The first line of  the book reads : " throughout recorded time, and probably sine the Neolithic Age, there have been three different types of people in this world, high, middle, and low." The majority of societies are pyramid based structures no matter what political system in place. Emmanuel Goldstein's  analysis demonstrates such a structure causes upheavals, yet there has never been a dramatic change to such an order. The only time humanity would have genuine equality was during the period of hunter gatherer societies. The rise of permanent settlement and framing created much of the disparities that can be seen in the contemporary world. The class divide has made three groups with various aims, so conflict is inevitable. There have been various movements both social and political that attempted to address major problems facing human civilization. Poverty, war, racism, and class conflict remain present in various countries. The Enlightenment was a  immense shift in political theory and how the citizenry related to the states in which they lived. There were natural rights that every human being had and could not be denied by a government. The rise of totalitarianism was a rejection of such a philosophy, because democracy was seen as an ineffective system. The masses according to this perspective need strict guidance. Without such guidance society would fall into chaos. This view is a justification for violence and oppression. Permanent warfare as the    The Theory of Oligarchical Collectivism describes is not to win wars, rather to keep the population in fear of foreigners to keep Oceania unified and so the Party can remain in  power indefinitely. Permanent war makes Oceania look like the protector of its citizens. That is why the illusion must continue as the book explains. Keeping the citizens of Oceania can be best summarized by this quote : " If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that must of what he has been told  about them are lies." There is also an economic incentive for permanent war. The economy is dependent on this never ending fight between the three superstates. The world powers fall into ideological camps of English socialism, Neo-Bolshevism, and the Eastasia conviction of Obliteration of the  Self . The irony is that the standard of living has not risen for the people in 1984.  Oceania is still divided by various hierarchies and has a ranking system in the Party itself. The majority of the population is in the prole class. They are the poor and working class who have the potential to overthrow the system. They do not mainly because they do not have political consciousness. As long as people do not have political consciousness or access to alternative information autocratic systems can remain in place. 

         The novel 1984 was a political warning to readers.  Governments either far-right or far-left are more concerned about political power, rather than the improvement of society. The lack of human rights and freedom demonstrate the dangers of totalitarian as well as authoritarian systems however, democratic societies can also have attributes similar to those in 1984 . Doublethink can happen anywhere in which a society adopts beliefs that do not want questioned or criticized. The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in some scholars believing that there was an end of history and that liberal democracy would be the sole model of government. The United States and the West have become more willing to use warfare to impose a political system of countries they view as rogue states. The US, Russia, and China are competing with each other similar to how the superstates did in 1984. These countries a building large armed forces to either fight in wars of proxy or at some point confront each other directly. There is a military industrial complex that has been such a part of the global economy that it makes peace impossible. World leaders may not even want peace. This provides a cover and an scapegoat for domestic policy failures. The presentation of threats either real or imagined  cause groups of people to willingly relinquish their rights. This creates also an atmosphere in which debate and critical thought are suppressed. When this is done populations are more susceptible to manipulation by a ruling elite. The world of 1984 has telescreens, but that does not compare to the power of the modern mass media. The internet and social media has the ability to manipulate users more so than television. Incorrect information and falsehoods can spread more rapidly than  radio or television. Surveillance and censorship are common in the West under the idea that it is designed to stop terrorism. The collection of personal data by the governments and corporations has taken societies down perilous path of potential human rights abuse. The use of indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition, and  torture are becoming features of  democratic societies of the West. While there are the more traditional authoritarian systems that remain, they do not pretend they are promoting human rights. The United States and the EU countries act as if they are the defenders of  freedom, free speech, and equality yet in a contradictory manner wage multiple wars, cause an increase in refugees, and allow the increase of  poverty under a neoliberal capitalist system. George Orwell's warning was not just about the abuse of too much political power; it was about the zealous devotion to dogma. The Ministry of Truth was so devoted to the Party ideology that  it would distort and lie about the past. This pattern of  fabrication or obfuscation can be seen in various political systems. Given the current status of international affairs 1984 may have been a prediction of the future.