ORWELLIAN ANNIVERSARY

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's famous book "1984". For those of you not in the Orwellian loop, 1984 was a futuristic depiction of what George Orwell dreamed 1984 (from his point of view in 1949) would look like after the "Thought Police" and "Big Brother" had taken over. The Thought Police were police that used high tech devices to stop crimes before they were even committed. Big Brother was the dictator/government of Oceania, Orwell's fictitious state in the mists of a totalitarian Government . Big Brother, aka the government, had evolved into a sophisticated monitoring system to keep the people under control. Cameras were placed in your home, at your work, and in the streets. Your every move and thought was monitored. Thoughts against the government were not allowed as were thoughts not approved by the government. Those who engaged in them were punished harshly.The good people of Oceania were told constantly through propaganda that it was all for their benefit, that the government knew what was best for them and was creating a Utopia. I viewed it as a horror piece, as did everyone I knew.

When I was in my early teens, my best friend, Mike "Spikehorn" Trench turned me on to Orwell's "Animal Farm" and I was instantly captivated by his writing style. I went on to read "1984" immediately afterward and it has influenced my thoughts on government and free speech every since. At the time, we were in the early stages of the Cold War and the winding down of the Vietnam War. The Soviet Empire and communism were the enemies. The propaganda of the day was that communism would turn your kids against you, your teachers would only be allowed to teach what the government told them to teach, religion would be run out of your schools and homes, free speech would die as would free thought and the ability to question authority. At the time, these were precious things that everyone, Hippies and Conservatives alike, equated with being American. My, how times have changed.

George Orwell could not have envisioned how much worse the future would actually turn out. Cameras are now commonplace as he had predicted. Computers are monitored by your bosses, as is your mail. Corporations can demand your urine, saliva or blood. Religion has been all but done away with in the name of government, science and secularism. Your children are encouraged to "turn you in". Common religious-based morality has been replaced with Liberalism, Relativism and Humanism. The most frightening development that I have seen that mirrors "1984" is the advent of the mentality that crimes can be stopped by limiting speech and thought. In the University where I work, I sometimes have flashbacks to Orwell's ugly vision. "Hate Speech" is used by liberals to silence any contrary points of view. Opposition to Gay Marriage, support of religious points of view, corporal punishment of children, and criticism of minority agendas are just a few of the restrictions on speech that I have seen. Their philosophy is that words can lead to thoughts that lead to crimes. Like Orwell's vision, these "thought crimes" can get you punished harshly, even fired. The linchpin in their philosophy is that they, like Orwell's Big Brother, know what's best for you.

If you have never read Orwell's "1984", I would greatly encourage you to get a copy and let yourself drift back to a time when monitoring your speech was unthinkable in America, when disciplining your kids was your job, not the governments, when you could walk down the streets without a camera ever taking your picture. When a book like "1984" was a horror piece and not a piece on present history. They say all these things are for our own good, that it will help us become a Utopia much like Orwell's Oceania. But I am reminded of an old slave rallying cry."I would rather die standing like a man, than live contently on my knees." H.C.