I had never read this before. And that was a hole in my reading, given I'm in my 6th decade.
1984 is one of those books everyone should read. Yes, it's heavy-handed. No, it's not spectacular writing. Yes, we all need to be aware of giving up too much power to our government. But there are other things too.
Orwell's discussions of the proles clearly speak to not leaving them with no safety net. (Winston's youth,
🧵 #books#bookstodon#classics@bookstodon
@DejahEntendu@bookstodon read #1984 in, well, 1984, as a 15 year old. My father gave it to me when I was long into computer already. #1984 is often cited when it comes to gov power but Orwell got the surveillance so wrong in other ways. We do not have hidden devices behind screens but willingly place them into our home (looking at you, Alexa), use them every day for our "free" Internet in return. Surveillance capitalism, much worse then what Orwell describes and entirely overlooked by him.
I just ordered the $50 T-Mobile internet & my first question was “Is that box going to listen to me like an Alexa?” He laughed and said no, but I thought it was funny he didn’t remind me that box would reveal everything I do on the internet with a simple request from the government.
@DejahEntendu@bookstodon I am currently reading Adjustment Day by Chuck Palahniuk. I have been trying to get through it for a couple years now. I love his writing, it’s just the story itself it hard to read in these sick political times.
@maggiejk@bookstodon
I hadn't heard of that one. I just went and looked it up. I'm not sure I could read that after reading Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates. It's such a clear view on what incels want that I'm not sure I could take Adjustment Day as the satire it's intended to be. Kinda too close to the mark, y'know?
@DejahEntendu@bookstodon@paul
I've read #1984 4 or 5 times since the 1960s and each time it gets better. I think this is due to forgetting details and reading them as new and thereby seeing them differently. Hopefully I'll read it a few more times before I can't anymore.
@DejahEntendu@DoubleTreble@old_hippie@bookstodon@paul And, if you haven't read it yet, JULIA, by Sandra Newman, tells the story of 1984, from the perspective of Julia, instead of Winston. The author had the permission and blessing from the Orwell Estate. Either way (or both) 1984 is such an important read.
the repeated comment about rats and prole babies, the clear feeling that they are always, and shamefully, ignored...) So, he speaks to the need to actually support our weakest. Also, the discussion of how the middle and the top swap power in revolutions, leaving the bottom on the bottom every time. Striking.
Education is key to keeping power from being concentrated in an oligarchy. Orwell speaks to the need to think clearly and critically.
You can see his example of what happens if you don't teach people to think critically in his juxtaposition of Winston and Julia. Only a decade or so apart in age, Julia is an example of someone who doesn't think critically, and though she doesn't like Big Brother, she certainly doesn't see, or care to see, the larger picture Winston sees.
I was particularly struck by the parallels I saw between Big Brother and the ChristoFascist god
being peddled in the United States currently. Rabidly anti-education in general and anti-science in particular, it also relies on the in-group of the saved (the middle) to keep the non-believers (the bottom) out of the power structure by limiting their rights.
I'm so glad I read this, but, geez, it really hit hard.
@DejahEntendu@bookstodon I've read it a bunch of times, as well as some of Orwell's other writing, and I totally agree that it's disturbingly relevant. I think the totalitarian tactics that appear in the book are the same ones used today bc today's fascists are learning from the playbooks that Orwell is commenting on. It wasn't long ago.
@KerryMitchell@bookstodon
That was an interesting take. I think the author was running up against the idea that there's no one perfect world that would make everyone happy. But there is a base that would allow people to have a world in which they can have the opportunity to build their own happiness.
UBI and support for social freedoms is a great start. Let people be who they are and give them the financial base to live in a way that suits them. I'm sure there's more, but that's a minimum.
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