We’re not even close to 1984 but the parallels are there. Society has become much more politicized. Thats not a good thing. Part of it comes from the breakdown of religion. Religion- right or wrong- supplied people with objective standards of judgement. Whether they admitted it or not, peoples moral standards came largely from religion. Nature ( if you will) abhors a vacuum. The gap has been largely filled with varieties of politics. If you listen to what people say, if you read things and consume media , you’ll notice that moral judgement is largely political at this point. Trump is the epitome of evil or good depending upon your standpoint. A good person is someone who holds the politically correct views of the moment which are subject to endless revision.You’ll notice that opinions appear to be more valued then actions. A person may be the epitome of virtue according to traditional standards but they are to be utterly condemned if they have ever said a bad word or expressed a bad opinion. They must be “ cancelled “. Whereas those who embrace or embody present standards of virtue are to be endlessly forgiven for their sins. In fact, they may be incapable of sin.This is an environment inherently sympathetic to authoritarianism because the state is routinely seen as the vehicle for and enforcer of virtue.People who do not hold the correct views are a threat even a source of contagion. They need to be dealt with. Language must be rigorously policed to prevent corruption. Improper language suggests improper thought. History needs to be rewritten to support present views. When it appears to contradict the present it must be eliminated. This is all going on and it’s scary!
I didn't understand it until very recently myself. While I didn't go back and read 1984 - though I probably should - Winston Smith's 2 + 2 = 4 statement started making sense at the turn of the decade, when I started seeing not only censorship going about but those openly willing to censor and control other viewpoints simply for the fact that they deviated from the official perspective. The COVIDcrisis played a big role in this, but we can also look at issues like what the Twitter Files revealed, foreign policy (too many issues in this category to name), and if we want to get even more recent, FEMA's hurricane response. I can go on and on here, such as identity politics and quips that have come about 'control,' mainly from the Left, but you get the idea.
We’re not even close to 1984 but the parallels are there. Society has become much more politicized. Thats not a good thing. Part of it comes from the breakdown of religion. Religion- right or wrong- supplied people with objective standards of judgement. Whether they admitted it or not, peoples moral standards came largely from religion. Nature ( if you will) abhors a vacuum. The gap has been largely filled with varieties of politics. If you listen to what people say, if you read things and consume media , you’ll notice that moral judgement is largely political at this point. Trump is the epitome of evil or good depending upon your standpoint. A good person is someone who holds the politically correct views of the moment which are subject to endless revision.You’ll notice that opinions appear to be more valued then actions. A person may be the epitome of virtue according to traditional standards but they are to be utterly condemned if they have ever said a bad word or expressed a bad opinion. They must be “ cancelled “. Whereas those who embrace or embody present standards of virtue are to be endlessly forgiven for their sins. In fact, they may be incapable of sin.This is an environment inherently sympathetic to authoritarianism because the state is routinely seen as the vehicle for and enforcer of virtue.People who do not hold the correct views are a threat even a source of contagion. They need to be dealt with. Language must be rigorously policed to prevent corruption. Improper language suggests improper thought. History needs to be rewritten to support present views. When it appears to contradict the present it must be eliminated. This is all going on and it’s scary!
I don't want us to get close, which is why I point out the parallels. I agree that the politicization of society is an ugly and dangerous phenomenon.
I didn't understand it until very recently myself. While I didn't go back and read 1984 - though I probably should - Winston Smith's 2 + 2 = 4 statement started making sense at the turn of the decade, when I started seeing not only censorship going about but those openly willing to censor and control other viewpoints simply for the fact that they deviated from the official perspective. The COVIDcrisis played a big role in this, but we can also look at issues like what the Twitter Files revealed, foreign policy (too many issues in this category to name), and if we want to get even more recent, FEMA's hurricane response. I can go on and on here, such as identity politics and quips that have come about 'control,' mainly from the Left, but you get the idea.