8/30/2002

Those who ignore (Alternate) History...

...are doomed to repeat it.

TomPain.com has a short piece comparing Bush Administration policies to Orwell's classic book 1984.

It's an entertaining read, but the critique is solid. Any reader of 1984 will recognize these aspects of the dystopia: Permanent War. Ministry of Truth. Infallible Leader. Big Brother is Watching. Though Police. The essay puts forth Iraq, the Office of Strategic Influence, Bush, Ashcroft, and Fleischer as examples of these concepts. I disagree that the OSI is relevant, my choice for Ministry of Truth would actually be the WarBlogsphere and Conservative Radio, especially Bros. Hannity and Limbaugh (and to a lesser extent, Paul Harvey and Bill O'Reilly). OSI is aimed at a specific kind of disinformation campaign that is actually essential to our foreign policy.

I also think that one very important concept is missing from the list, namely, that of doublethink.

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