Re:It needs more public-spirited pigs: TS Eliot's rejection ...
by force_reboot on Sunday May 29, 2016 @01:23AM
(#11794937)
1984 describes the world as if the Soviet Union won the cold war. So it does seem to capture some aspects of a leftist totalitarian society like North Korea. On the other hand North Korea is different any many ways, e.g. 1984 doesn't characterize the proles as living in near starvation.
When it comes to applying its ideas more generally, the problem is that everyone wants to use it as ammunition against their ideological opponents. For example opponents of Trump might consider the strong emotions he stirs up comparable with the 2 minutes hate, while opponents to the progressive movements might consider the attempt to erase gendered pronouns from our language as a kind of Newspeak.
Re:It needs more public-spirited pigs: TS Eliot's rejection ...
by labster on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:34AM
(#11799569)
Of course, both sides would be correct. That's why Orwell works so well as a logical razor. The question of government is always the degree to which the culture is controlled.
Orwell himself never really settled on an ideology, and were he American today I imagine he'd be deeply unsatisfied with all of our parties/candidates.
1984 is not really science fiction, but a political fantasy showing the worst a society could become with modern technology. As with all dystopias, it is a warning more than a true and consistent world.
I co-ran the UC Davis branch of the Students for an Orwellian Society 10 years ago. The idea of doublethink, of encapsulating dangerous ideas in pithy slogans, of massive government surveillance -- those are all very relevant today. They serve well for helping to frame a debate. But still, I've never felt the urge to reread 1984, which in some ways proves Asimov correct. It's not amazing as fiction, but full of interesting ideas.