Orwell's classic, 1984, was published in 1949, one year before his death in 1950. He died of Tuberculosis, another respiratory disease, which is rare today but can still be spread by anyone who is infected. There is a vaccine for TB but isn't normally given in the United States because of the low risk of infection. When I was in my teens, I remember a neighbor who caught TB, was quarantined, and the neighborhood went on about its business.
The above is given based on the fact that we are currently going through the coronavirus pandemic, also a respiratory disease, that as of today has spawned 8,380,969 cases and 224,643 deaths, with 60,000 of those preventable by Donald Trump in a grossly mismanaged campaign to control the virus. Most of this is attributable to the Oval Office lunatic's authoritarianism which is so similar to similar to Orwell's dystopia.
Ken Abramowitz, writing for the Jewish News Syndicate, says..."It [1984] dealt with the consequences of a totalitarian government, mass surveillance, unending propaganda to distort the truth, and the suppression of freedom, including even the freedom of thought. The totalitarian state, which is at the heart of the story, perpetuates its rule by continuously spying on its citizens, systematically manipulating the truth, and rewriting history.
Sound familiar? Trump is not a fan of George Orwell but was compared to 1984 when making the statement in 2018, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” Abramowitz added...
For some, the quote immediately recalled a line from Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
The big difference here would be Donald Trump "told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears." And, of course, the poor souls who follow Trump have done just as he told them to do. There are some quotes in this article that are downright terrifying when compared to the real Donald Trump. Like...
- The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
- Free speech is my right to say what you don’t want to hear.
- It’s frightful that people who are so ignorant should have so much influence.
- A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud.
"One of Orwell’s observations is particularly appropriate today. He warned of the authoritarian enemies who, driven by an intoxication of power, will be waging a campaign of fear, rage and loyalty only to their party. Already in 1949, Orwell foresaw the budding of dystopia in the world."
For those of you who haven't read 1984, Remember Orwell’s warning: “Don’t let it happen; it depends on you!” VOTE DONALD TRUMP AND ALL HIS REPUBLICAN CRONIES OUT NEXT MONTH!
