1984 all over again

"Every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered...History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." -- 1984, George Orwell

The very prescient quote above was sent to me by one of my children recently. How truly optimistic it makes me feel to receive this from one of the younger members of society who surely is not alone! In these days when many people and institutions are tripping over each other to show remorse for past and present behavioural ‘sins’ and to convince us that they have been ‘rehabilitated’, I take comfort that not everyone is a believer.

I recall the actual year 1984, when so many smug journalists declared that ‘IT never came to pass’. I presume that by IT they mean all that we see today.

I said then, and I repeat even louder now, it HAS come to pass. The seeds were sown long ago and now the bitter fruit is ripening quickly. I have labelled it ‘neo - Stalinism with a smile’, but these days there is no smile. Gangs of illiterate people toppling statues, arts managers ( a contemporary oxymoron ) declaring works as ‘inappropriate’ and apologizing for their institutions, journalists being fired for pushing back against the mob, other journalists likening the rioters to freedom fighters, politicians getting on their knees to prove their ‘wokeness’, movies and television programmes being censored and erased…. where will it lead?

Look again at the quote. Orwell understood exactly where it leads.

History, with its -get ready - diversity - is meant to teach us things, to help us understand our dangerous and complex species and therefore assist us in moving forward. The existence of monuments, statues, works of art and all other historical artifacts is not in itself a symbol of agreement with whatever they may or may not represent, depending on your perspective. It is a challenge to think, to learn, and to be inspired to make the world a better place for us all.

The notion that history must be ‘cleansed’ to conform with what one group or another in temporary ascendency believes it should be is a replay of the failed state control of Stalinism, Nazism and Maoism. It is the exact recipe for the tyranny that now is at the gates - indeed, PAST the gates. Most of the mainstream media have joined in the cleansing. Theodore Roosevelt and Leonard Bernstein, to name but two, suddenly have become unacceptable, despite their many accomplishments that might even look ‘woke’ in hindsight if only anyone would care to educate themselves. The list is growing, and it will become much bigger before this tyranny exhausts itself. Stalin would be pleased to see that his purging of intellectuals, politicians and the arts is being mimicked so successfully by people who likely have never even heard of him.

What is most interesting is how this cancer spreads quickly in groups. At this time in particular it is ironic. It is working its way through the population like a virulent virus that picks the most vulnerable to prey upon. Those most vulnerable are the feeble-minded, desperately weak and prone to being bullied. Are all who join in this hooliganism and anti-intellectualism really so blind? Are the managers and politicians posing as reformers truly unaware of the reactionary fascism at the core of this ‘cleansing’? How much of it is just an exercise in piling on by people who are breaking out of the somnambulant prison created by the ill-conceived lockdown? How much of it is fear of rejection or loss of employment if they dare to question? My experience with many people from the former ‘Communist’ states is that they never believed the state propaganda that was foisted upon them. They did go along with it for reasons of survival. The danger in our time is that so many people ARE buying into this dogma like lemmings and sheep, egged on by the ubiquitous and infernal social media. Many others are sitting idly by and shrugging.

It begs an obvious question; If these various statues and works of art are deemed unfit by the mob, where does it stop? The Roman Coliseum and Greek and Mayan ruins are symbols of slave based societies, as are so many relics from the past from so many parts of the world. Do we, in harmony with the Taliban, destroy them all to satisfy some primitive ideological bloodlust? Who gets to decide what is destroyed and what is saved among all of the world’s treasures? What is the process by which we, as a society, erect statues and monuments and fill museums?

History shows us that the best and most benevolent human accomplishments have resulted from individuals calling upon their freedom of thought and ingenuity. Groups of humans often do bad things, and the bigger the group the worse the outcome. The social instinct of humans seems to smother any rational thought process when they join with other humans in any crusade, and the result can be toxic. I have spoken with some people who, in keeping with the Liberal habit, are paralyzed with guilt and confusion, trying to be everything to everyone, equivocating and unable to voice any objection for fear of being labelled a heretic and sent to the Gulag by the mob. Social engineering is inconvenient collateral damage while they assuage their flaccid guilt. No conviction, no courage, just as Lenin said.

The good news is that there ARE people who are standing against it. They are on the defensive right now, but they are there, and I admire them. Pay attention to them and take courage from them. Oscar Wilde said that ‘conformity is the last refuge of the unimaginative’. Winston Churchill said that we must ‘draw our swords against tyranny.’

Let’s use our imaginations and draw our swords. With any luck, this too shall pass.