One thing that really struck me about the time we live in is how disturbingly close to the dystopia (I was going to give a shout out to the dictionary for making me sound smart, but I remembered this word on my own!) of Orwell's 1984. I mean just look at what the ministry of truth says…
WAR IS PEACEWar is the state of our being today. We are part of a never ending “war”, either on terror or rogue nations or whatever. And this constantly distracts us from our internal issues. Because these wars can never be won, the government can keep them going, totally legitimately, forever. I’m not saying this is a conspiracy or that we shouldn’t focus on the people who attack us and try and keep ourselves safe, but we have to do it in perspective.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERYCivil rights are more threatened today than they ever have been in the past. In fact, my saying this would be construed by some as unpatriotic, even though the rights laid out in our Constitution have gone through a lot more arduous times than these we are living in now with no change. In 1812 we had the entire British army marching through <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>… that’s a bit worse than today’s environment, no?
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTHThis is a more subtle one, but just look at how ready people are to not know. When the president can get up and say he “just does not know” about global warming, or stem cells or being gay from birth v. being a choice that should be unacceptable. Our leaders SHOULD know. They SHOULD drive to an answer and understand our world as well as any of us to make the best decisions that affect everyone. But they do not and they do not want to (and I think both parties suffer from this).
I do not mean to sound so alarmist. Things will swing back and things will get better. I just feel very uncomfortable looking at the way things are today.
D
