For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?” —George Orwell, 1984
This image was inspired by George Orwell’s 1984 novel written in 1948 and published in 1949 — it turns 70 years old this year — actually there are people that think Orwell figured the title out by swapping the last digits of the year it was written.
Critics and subject matter experts in literature agree 1984 is probably one of the most important novels written the 1900’s, nevertheless, this fact didn’t prevent organizations in the US and Russia to ban the book; in the US for considering it pro-communist and in Russia for the opposite reason, ha! I suppose here applies the adagio that says “The beauty is the eye of the beholder”.
1984 is about authoritarian governments, continuous surveillance, but more than anything else about the total negation of the true and substitution of the actual facts by the party “official” facts, but, wait a moment, doesn’t it all sound familiar to you? Even in 2019?
Paul Waldman from the Washintong Post published an article a couple of days ago titled “Trump has another moment right out of 1984” important from the perspective that this was the first interview that the so-called “president” accepted in the Spanish language — another election day coming of course — where he bluntly denied his government is separating, in the cruelest way, little ones from his parents at the Mexican border and that the US government has no idea where are the majority of the 3,000 children that were separated many months ago are today, his “fact”: it was not me, it was Obama! Haha! I don’t know why, but it comes to my mind the 1984’s passage where O’Brien tortures Winston showing 4 fingers and ask him how many fingers he sees, after days of torture he understands the right answer is five: that’s the party fact, well these are Trump’s facts.
Final thought, Orwell finally got it wrong, states don’t need to be totalitarian regimes to attempt to control its people, all they need is a segment of the population blatantly blinded by its own yearning of past times, a “leader” cynic-enough to conglomerate the needed critical mass, and a “resistance” that is more occupied in internal politics than on really be a resistance, and voila, “1984” is made great again!
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All About Monochrome 