Did George Orwell foresee today's republican party in the book 1984?

Question

I mean just read this passage and tell me what you think folks.

A Party member…is supposed to live in a continuous frenzy of hatred of foreign enemies and internal traitors, triumph over victories, and self-abasement before the power and wisdom of the Party. The discontents produced by his bare, unsatisfying life are deliberately turned outwards and dissipated by such devices as the Two Minutes Hate, and the speculations which might possibly induce a sceptical or rebellious attitude are killed in advance by his early acquired inner discipline…called, in Newspeak, crimestop. Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity.

Lord Kelve listen to Ann Rush and Sean and try telling that lie somewhere else, as a matter of fact ANY of you who try to say the sanctimonious hatred spewed by the likes of those mentioned as well as Savage, Malkin, Beck etc. are just proving the Orwellian statements true

Answer 1

Perfect. Any American who has not yet read "1984" should do so.

After all, we should at least be familiar with what Totalitarianism is, since we're sliding down the slippery slope towards that - beginning with the 'anointing' of bush as President.

Answer 2

Liked the book when I read it in 1984, however 1984 was more about the government controlling society and personal freedoms and one person's story about it.

Look at what we have today proposed by the democrats that follow the 1984 theory:
- ban transfats
- Ohio democrats are proposing that a teenager has to have a doctor note to go to a tanning bed in Ohio.
- Global warming, preached by democrats, is basically forcing people to do things they do not want to do. Didn't the main character fight against being forced to do things that they government or thought police made them do?
- Universal Healthcare - taking away free enterprise for a govt nanny state. This is the closest thing to 1984 that I am seeing. Remember they controlled who lived and who died. People just disappeared.
- Welfare is forcing people to rely on the government. Isn't that what Orwell preached against? That is what I got out of it when I read it.

The list can go on.

Answer 3

Orwell was a Conservative.

The book 1984 was a critique of Communist and other totalitarian regimes.

There is no comparison to Republicans. we didn't "dream up" an enemy to keep the populace distracted from internal problems.

Why do I think that?

1) We were attacked. Repeatedly. USS Cole, Embassy bombings, 2 different World Trade Center bombings, to name a few. This is no "imaginary enemy"

2) The war did not function to "distract" the masses. The Republican party is not benefiting from any "distraction". The fact that you wrote this question proves that.

Funny how the President's approval ratings are 35% or so. And the opposition in Congress has approval ratings ten points LOWER.

Answer 4

No... sounds like you are describing the new Liberal Left Democrat party of today. The hate and vitriol spewed at *any* who would oppose the party line is quite indicative of a group lusting for power... the continuous irrational and pathological hate of the President for the past 7 years (for daring to win elections against their darlings) is a perfect example of the "2 minutes of hate" carried to extremes... you neglected to mention the rewriting of history and even news events to suit the currant party line... the slandering and trashing of Rush Limbaugh just in the past couple of weeks more than demonstrates that characteristic.... So it would appear that you are of the fully indoctrinated and must surely have the cleanest brain in town.

Answer 5

Is that the only section of the book you've read? If so, I suggest you read more of it. The book and it's theme is far more in common with the democrat's mega-government socialist agenda, it's love of social conformity and gross oppression of rights (life, religion, arms, speech...pretty much all of the biggies) than anything any Republican has ever dreamed of doing.

But good try. Hey, next why don't you post that quote from Goebbels?

Answer 6

George Orwells 1984 depicts the domination and control of a largely thick and uneducated population.The Animals who took over were in fact aportayal of stalins russia,Napolien in particular.The insidius line'all men are born equal,but some are more equal than others'COULD INDEED BE THE REPUBLICANS PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL DARWINISM....I.E SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.HAVENT TIME TO GO ON AS IM ON A LIBRARY COMPUTER LIMITED ONE HOUR JOHNNY

Answer 7

I don't think that Orwell foresaw the GOP as much as they embraced the idea of a totalitarian police state.

Answer 8

Funny, I feel the Dems are just (if not more) quilty of Crimestop as the Republicans.

Both want bigger government, both have been in power and deepened the "nanny state". Both like it that millions are on the government dole.

And both parties are instituting laws that are wiping out the non-government employee, middle class.

Mr. Orwell, and our founding fathers, would have no love for EITHER party. And neither do I.

Answer 9

Orwell never saw the day where transvestites would pose questions like this on YA.

Answer 10

Its not nice to use a picture of your wife as your avatar!