3 ms·

How better to identify those members of the Inner Party likely to rebel than by telling them the truth ("The object of power is power").

082349872349872 6y ago
Rebellion is for the outers, who otherwise are kept well away from the greasy pole. Inners (having received A*'s and been Oxbridge material[1]) may simply jockey for power by playing "party games." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5rTPB6MCM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5rTPB6MCM [1] NB one of the shockers Huxley gratuitously throws into BNW: in the far future, Eton has a headmistress.
- arethuza 6y ago
  This reminds me that I really should read The Rise of the Meritocracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    Thank ye. Maybe I'll take a shufty as well. In Yes, Minister the Civil Service mixed strategy for retaining comprehensive education involves telling Labour governments selective education would be divisive, while telling Tory governments that it would be expensive. Compare https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24727183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24727183 or, on the meritocratic front, possibly even https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24069572 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24069572 ==== Conspiracy theory: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24737728 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24737728 examines the reliability of Smith's narration. (I am unconvinced by the concept of totalitarian dystopias torturing for six whole chapters as if they were schoolboy bullies with nowhere better to be. In practice they only torture if they think they can gain useful information, and dispose of everyone else rapidly. Is O'Brien's time really worth that little? In a historical dictatorship, Smith would've had a one way helicopter ride from the rented flat to somewhere between Clacton-on-sea and Margate. Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev musing on his cancellation in 1964, the year after JFK's: > "Let them cope by themselves. I've done the main thing. Could anyone have dreamed of telling Stalin that he didn't suit us anymore and suggesting he retire? Not even a wet spot would have remained where we had been standing. Now everything is different. The fear is gone, and we can talk as equals. That's my contribution." )

082349872349872 6y ago

Rebellion is for the outers, who otherwise are kept well away from the greasy pole. Inners (having received A*'s and been Oxbridge material[1]) may simply jockey for power by playing "party games." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5rTPB6MCM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5rTPB6MCM [1] NB one of the shockers Huxley gratuitously throws into BNW: in the far future, Eton has a headmistress.

arethuza 6y ago
This reminds me that I really should read The Rise of the Meritocracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Thank ye. Maybe I'll take a shufty as well. In Yes, Minister the Civil Service mixed strategy for retaining comprehensive education involves telling Labour governments selective education would be divisive, while telling Tory governments that it would be expensive. Compare https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24727183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24727183 or, on the meritocratic front, possibly even https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24069572 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24069572 ==== Conspiracy theory: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24737728 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24737728 examines the reliability of Smith's narration. (I am unconvinced by the concept of totalitarian dystopias torturing for six whole chapters as if they were schoolboy bullies with nowhere better to be. In practice they only torture if they think they can gain useful information, and dispose of everyone else rapidly. Is O'Brien's time really worth that little? In a historical dictatorship, Smith would've had a one way helicopter ride from the rented flat to somewhere between Clacton-on-sea and Margate. Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev musing on his cancellation in 1964, the year after JFK's: > "Let them cope by themselves. I've done the main thing. Could anyone have dreamed of telling Stalin that he didn't suit us anymore and suggesting he retire? Not even a wet spot would have remained where we had been standing. Now everything is different. The fear is gone, and we can talk as equals. That's my contribution." )