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I would argue the key aspect of something being Orwellian is the redefinition of language such that arguments against the government's position cannot be made a
by cyphar 7y ago
I would argue the key aspect of something being Orwellian is the redefinition of language such that arguments against the government's position cannot be made anymore.
The idea of people being spied on by their neighbours in 1984 comes from real-world examples that Orwell was drawing on at the time (the Hitler Youth and the purges under Stalin). While it is very dystopian, I would classify it as being extreme totalitarianism and not Orwellian. Almost all recent totalitarian regimes I can think of had people informing on their neighbours.
- johnchristopher 7y agoYou are absolutely right. I can't edit to correct myself. The redefinition of language is more `Orwellian` than the all-spying. My point is that the spying in 1984 is most of the time seen as being done by Big Brother and its agents against the people but it was quite clear to me when reading it that it was more about everyone keeping an eye on everyone to report to BB, people were doing the watching and there was no escape (I seem to remember there's a line about how they don't know if the camera work but that doesn't matter because you can't prove it and people could be spied on by anyone anyway). Maybe it's time I pick it up again.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoI would say that having people feel that it is acceptable to inform on their neighbors is a key element of a proper totalitarian society. This is why I routinely go off on people when they suggest calling the cops (or some other external authority) over petty differences. I don't want to see that kind of behavior left unchallenged let alone normalized.