Posted by bronxcheer on 8/13/2019 4:23:00 PM (view original):
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
The quotes from Nineteen Eighty-Four are endless for their relevance to today.
The final quote is what draws me. We've lost that freedom, in part because we are a bunch of children and, in part, because we are itching for a brawl. The media, social media, activists, talk radio, politicians - everyone is feigning or genuinely outraged by everything. It's all a bunch of stupid hate but everyone seems to get a kick out of it. Every comment, regardless of intent or context, is weaponized into an affront, a micro-aggression, a tool to shut the voice up and the opinion down...and don't try to pass off some bullshit about only one side or the other is doing it. EVERYONE is doing it and everyone loves doing it. The doers make money or get a boost to their ego through the control it gives them. The audience gets an emotional release (our version of the
Two Minutes Hate) by making us believe we are involved in something larger than our miserable little lives. Is everyone satisfied? Apparently not, because there will be a new dose of real or imagined mindless hatred tomorrow and Americans just can't eat enough at this particular buffet.
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.