It's a multipolar trap. Everyone hates the system (except maybe the people at the top, and even they might prefer the country they rule over not be a poor hellh

It's a multipolar trap. Everyone hates the system (except maybe the people at the top, and even they might prefer the country they rule over not be a poor hellhole, in theory.) But no one can do anything without getting themselves executed (or worse...) One of the scariest things about 1984 to me wasn't the weird specific details of that dystopia. It's that the system was completely stable. The system became so controlling and surveilling that revolution wasn't even remotely plausible. 1984's governments could go on for a thousand years until all the resources of the Earth were used up. Maybe it could keep going beyond that. Real authoritarian regimes don't seem to last forever. Although usually it's divisions within the ruling class, not real revolution from the bottom. Which is why monarchies like North Korea's tend to be more stable, because there's a clear line of succession and less of a power struggle when the old leader dies. And modern technology enables a lot of stuff that wasn't possible in the past. Extreme levels of surveillance, automated militaries and law enforcement, and anti-aging tech so the leaders never die, nuclear weapons so external invasion is impossible, etc.