Government Report: Reading ‘Lord Of The Rings’ And ‘1984’ Could Make You an Extremist

This is the inevitable result when people forget that government is a necessary evil, not a benevolent institution that thoughtfully fix social ills.

It was one of those posts you thought must be fake news.

“the uk government spent taxpayer dollars to tell everybody that reading lord of the rings and george orwell leads to right-wing extremism,” tweeted Ashley St. Clair, over a headline from a website whose name was cropped out.

Alas, the story was not the Babylon Bee. It was from the Daily Caller, which was highlighting an actually study published by the United Kingdom’s Prevent program.

“Author Douglas Murray published a scathing review of the British government’s counter-terrorism Prevent program, which has apparently reported that authors like George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis can radicalize readers.

In his column, Murray described how Britain’s Prevent program was founded to support counter-terrorism efforts, but has gradually swayed into a focus on only extremists from Islam and “far-right” ideological mindsets. He evidenced this claim by citing that Prevent was consulted by activist groups such as Hope not Hate, which he argues believes that people who voted for Brexit and are against illegal immigrants are far-right.

He further noted that Prevents’ “Research Information and Communications Unit” (RICU) has previously listed historical texts as red flags. Essentially, if someone is reading “1984,” or works by Lewis, Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, or Joseph Conrad, they should be suspected of being a far-right extremist terrorist. Murray’s own book was on the list.”

Murray’s column was not new. It was published last year. But the story is making the rounds after Elon Musk quote tweeted St. Clair.

This is one of the major reasons Musk is such a threat to the global establishment: he’s bringing attention to how ridiculous the leviathan is—and what a threat it has become.

I had never heard of Prevent before yesterday, but I Googled and was directed to a page of the UK government.

The page describes what Prevent is, then goes on to explain how visitors can report on fellow citizens.

“Prevent is a national programme that aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions, and communities are protected against radicalising influences. Radicalisation can happen when a person develops extreme views or beliefs that support terrorist groups or activities…

Anyone who is being radicalised can be referred to Prevent. Referring someone ensures they get the help they need to keep them and others safe.”

One can see why UK bureaucrats see 1984 as a threat. Orwell’s magnum opus was a warning against precisely this kind of government overreach. The UK now sees the very best literature written by English authors in the 20th century as threats, gateways to “radicalisation.”

The truth that the UK officials can’t seem to recognize is that they are the extremists. They are arresting people every day for stuff like this (see below).

Watching the video, you can see why bureaucrats in the UK don’t want citizens reading Orwell. Or Huxley, who wrote that “all the world’s governments will be more or less completely totalitarian” absent “a large-scale popular movement toward decentralization and self-help.”

Arresting people for “offensive” Facebook comments is totalitarian, as is accusing them of being extremists for reading and Tolkien, Orwell, and Huxley.

This is the inevitable result when people forget that government is a necessary evil, not a benevolent institution that can thoughtfully fix social ills.