John Whitehead's Commentary
The Prophetic Voice of George Orwell
George Orwell was one of the great prophetic voices of the twentieth century. As he gazed into the future, he imagined a time very much like our present day and a government with eerie similarities to our own--constantly preparing for war, constantly afraid of attack and perpetually preparing to annihilate its alleged opponents.
Orwell, however, might be surprised to learn how relevant and widely read his writings are at the dawn of the Third Millennium. At the time of his death in England in 1950, 46-year-old Orwell had been a writer for less than twenty years. For roughly half of that period, he lived in obscurity and poverty.
It was only with the publication of Animal Farm in 1946 that Orwell's work began to surface as a universal anthem against totalitarianism. By 1949, with the publication of 1984, Orwell cemented his name in history.
Yet more than 50 years after its publication, Orwell's body of work--1984, in particular--is more relevant than ever before. The story of one man's nightmare odyssey through a world ruled by warring states and an authority structure that controls not only information but also individual thoughts and memories, 1984 is perhaps the only English contribution to the literature of twentieth-century totalitarianism that can stand with the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Arthur Koestler and others.
With stunning clarity, 1984 uncovers the living roots of totalitarianism in contemporary thought and speech. "If you want a picture of the future," one of Orwell's characters prophesies, "imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever." Of course, with advances in technology and ever-increasing government surveillance, the situation has worsened since Orwell's imaginings of the future. Certainly Newspeak and Doublethink--two terms Orwell placed into the English language--describe the current wall-to-wall propaganda of the military-industrial-entertainment complex where reality and truth are produced by a managerial elite and broadcast to us 24 hours a day.
Orwell had the uncanny foresight to realize that although we present our society as one of freedom, individualism and idealism, these are, in reality, mostly words. Indeed, all it took was a tragedy such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack to shake the foundations of democracy. Within hours of the attacks, as society began to implode, Americans were willing to sacrifice their most sacred freedoms for a promise of security--amazingly from the very government that had failed to protect them.
In reaction, the U.S. government passed invasive and overreaching legislation that invites intrusion into the everyday lives of American citizens. For instance, the massive USA Patriot Act allows, among many other things, clandestine "black bag" searches of medical and financial records, computer, Internet and telephone communications and even a list of books Americans borrow from the library. The Act also merged the FBI, CIA and other clandestine agencies into a domestic and international secret police equipped with paramilitary forces. The power and authority now possessed by the U.S. government to investigate the average citizen is unparalleled in history.
Add to this the fact that surveillance cameras have sprung up virtually everywhere. The plain and simple truth is that we are all being watched. Government cameras stare at us from stoplights; they spy on our children at school and peer at us on street corners, in public parks and in public buildings. Many private companies also use these systems (which can be accessed by the government) to keep an eye on their employees and property. The surveillance cameras are often so tiny that they fit into the smallest openings.
Most of Orwell's insights on how authoritarianism develops stem from his incisive observations on war. First, he shows the economic significance of continuous arms production and the building of a war machine--something without which the economic system cannot function. For example, the American military budget for 2003 is approaching a staggering $400 billion. This, of course, leads to an inordinate influence of the military on an otherwise democratic society-a danger Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of as early as 1961 in his now infamous farewell address to the nation.
Furthermore, Orwell understood that the authority of a government over its citizens rests in its ability to wage war. And in 1984 he gives us an oppressive picture of a society that is constantly preparing for war, constantly afraid of attack (for example, by terrorists) and perpetually strategizing to completely annihilate alleged opponents. Orwell argues persuasively that we cannot retain any semblance of freedom and democracy under such circumstances. In the end, the military will become (in fact, if not in law) the dominant force in society.
Orwell also confronted the most pressing issue we presently face, one that raises important philosophical and religious issues. That is, can human nature be altered in such a way that people will forget the longing for freedom, dignity, integrity and love (longings that often consumed those of past generations)? Can we forget that we are human? Can humanity be obliterated? Or does human nature have an innate dynamism that will react against our basic human needs and attempt to change an inhuman society into a human one?
Orwell was always controversial, and his work remains so. According to the American Library Association, 1984 is one of the most targeted books for banning. Nevertheless, Orwell's ideas have been vindicated by time--and chillingly so. What Orwell illustrates "by his commitment to language as the partner of truth," writes Christopher Hitchens in Why Orwell Matters (Basic Books, 2002), "is that 'views' do not really count; that it matters not what you think, but how you think; and that politics are relatively unimportant, while principles have a way of enduring, as do the few irreducible individuals who maintain allegiance to them."
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
Orwell, however, might be surprised to learn how relevant and widely read his writings are at the dawn of the Third Millennium. At the time of his death in England in 1950, 46-year-old Orwell had been a writer for less than twenty years. For roughly half of that period, he lived in obscurity and poverty.
It was only with the publication of Animal Farm in 1946 that Orwell's work began to surface as a universal anthem against totalitarianism. By 1949, with the publication of 1984, Orwell cemented his name in history.
Yet more than 50 years after its publication, Orwell's body of work--1984, in particular--is more relevant than ever before. The story of one man's nightmare odyssey through a world ruled by warring states and an authority structure that controls not only information but also individual thoughts and memories, 1984 is perhaps the only English contribution to the literature of twentieth-century totalitarianism that can stand with the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Arthur Koestler and others.
With stunning clarity, 1984 uncovers the living roots of totalitarianism in contemporary thought and speech. "If you want a picture of the future," one of Orwell's characters prophesies, "imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever." Of course, with advances in technology and ever-increasing government surveillance, the situation has worsened since Orwell's imaginings of the future. Certainly Newspeak and Doublethink--two terms Orwell placed into the English language--describe the current wall-to-wall propaganda of the military-industrial-entertainment complex where reality and truth are produced by a managerial elite and broadcast to us 24 hours a day.
Orwell had the uncanny foresight to realize that although we present our society as one of freedom, individualism and idealism, these are, in reality, mostly words. Indeed, all it took was a tragedy such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack to shake the foundations of democracy. Within hours of the attacks, as society began to implode, Americans were willing to sacrifice their most sacred freedoms for a promise of security--amazingly from the very government that had failed to protect them.
In reaction, the U.S. government passed invasive and overreaching legislation that invites intrusion into the everyday lives of American citizens. For instance, the massive USA Patriot Act allows, among many other things, clandestine "black bag" searches of medical and financial records, computer, Internet and telephone communications and even a list of books Americans borrow from the library. The Act also merged the FBI, CIA and other clandestine agencies into a domestic and international secret police equipped with paramilitary forces. The power and authority now possessed by the U.S. government to investigate the average citizen is unparalleled in history.
Add to this the fact that surveillance cameras have sprung up virtually everywhere. The plain and simple truth is that we are all being watched. Government cameras stare at us from stoplights; they spy on our children at school and peer at us on street corners, in public parks and in public buildings. Many private companies also use these systems (which can be accessed by the government) to keep an eye on their employees and property. The surveillance cameras are often so tiny that they fit into the smallest openings.
Most of Orwell's insights on how authoritarianism develops stem from his incisive observations on war. First, he shows the economic significance of continuous arms production and the building of a war machine--something without which the economic system cannot function. For example, the American military budget for 2003 is approaching a staggering $400 billion. This, of course, leads to an inordinate influence of the military on an otherwise democratic society-a danger Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of as early as 1961 in his now infamous farewell address to the nation.
Furthermore, Orwell understood that the authority of a government over its citizens rests in its ability to wage war. And in 1984 he gives us an oppressive picture of a society that is constantly preparing for war, constantly afraid of attack (for example, by terrorists) and perpetually strategizing to completely annihilate alleged opponents. Orwell argues persuasively that we cannot retain any semblance of freedom and democracy under such circumstances. In the end, the military will become (in fact, if not in law) the dominant force in society.
Orwell also confronted the most pressing issue we presently face, one that raises important philosophical and religious issues. That is, can human nature be altered in such a way that people will forget the longing for freedom, dignity, integrity and love (longings that often consumed those of past generations)? Can we forget that we are human? Can humanity be obliterated? Or does human nature have an innate dynamism that will react against our basic human needs and attempt to change an inhuman society into a human one?
Orwell was always controversial, and his work remains so. According to the American Library Association, 1984 is one of the most targeted books for banning. Nevertheless, Orwell's ideas have been vindicated by time--and chillingly so. What Orwell illustrates "by his commitment to language as the partner of truth," writes Christopher Hitchens in Why Orwell Matters (Basic Books, 2002), "is that 'views' do not really count; that it matters not what you think, but how you think; and that politics are relatively unimportant, while principles have a way of enduring, as do the few irreducible individuals who maintain allegiance to them."
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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