Yo, guys.
In a world where surveillance monitors you 24/7, day and night, in every room, all the time, the only place you have to yourself, is up there, in your head. That space from one ear to the other. Your thoughts, beliefs, opinions cannot be known or changed without your consent. No one can forcefully control you up there.
For those of you who have read 1984, it's pretty terrifying. Your lack of freedom, the paradoxes your world seems to run on. Specifically, the contradictory principles by which you live upon are installed in your brain by a process called doublethink. It's inception (like the movie), except with thoughts, not dreams. It's a simple concept, but a difficult process to undergo, especially for the characters of the book. Winston, a 39-year old man, an inner rebel and opposition to the totalitarian Party, lives life blandly. But, there's no choice. There's no freedom. Freedom is slavery.
1984 plays at which system of economy and government is most effective. 1984 takes socialism to the very extreme, where any trace of individualism is eradicated. It's called Ingsoc (English socialism). Great. So you have to conform to the very strict guidelines the Party has established or you will be vaporized. The book makes references to totalitarian dictatorship regimes, like Hitler or Napoleon, but the Party takes all that to the next level. The methods employed by the Party cannot even be called propaganda. Propaganda for the party is eliminating everything that goes against their principles and surrounding the people with nothing but the principles of the party. The Party changes the entire world and environment of people, so that they have no proof that things are not what the Party claims them to be. They can't complain or not appreciate the society they live in because they have "no standards of comparison," I think Orwell puts it. The workers in the Ministry of Truth are dedicated to changing facts in publications, eliminating things every second that does not support the claims of the Party.
This makes me think. How much can written information, distributed through publication such as the news or books, influence our thoughts, opinions, beliefs? The spread of information is now much more prevalent and accessible (Internet) too. It's a very powerful tool, and can really influence a person's perspective on the world. That's why it's always important to think while you read. To toss ideas introduced in text around in your brain, leave no stone unturned. Think about the idea, play with it. Throw other ideas at it, kick it around, agree with some, disagree with others. Be critical about the information, and be exclusive with the information you are going to let influence you. Your thoughts are yours. Keep them safe and pure.
