“The appropriate noises are coming out of his larynx, but his brain is not involved as it would be if he were choosing his words for himself. If the speech he is making is one that he is accustomed to make over and over again, he may be almost unconscious of what he is saying, as one is when one utters the responses in church. And this reduced state of consciousness, if not indispensable, is at any rate favourable to political conformity.”
Taking us to church!
Those closing three lines, wow.- “… the depths of the thickest cultural forest we’ve ever known in modern times… a bright hole through all the jungle to the outside world, open and free and beautiful.”
Thank you for extending “that beam of light to ultimate freedom,” Michael. These are imperative perspectives.
I hear a lot about Orwell but I was never exposed to him and truthfully have not made the effort. I appreciate you laying his writing out and applying it to today's cultural madness. Your point about today's youth not having any real problems is spot on. My best friend and I talks about this all the time. Life is so easy for them (generally speaking) so they make shit up as they go. It just seems like everyone wants to take part in the oppression Olympics or be the language police. If I hear my daughter use the term "social construct" one more time I'm going to explode. Our last heavy Convo was that I didn't believe that we all need to be reduced to a group & that we are all complex individuals etc...her response started w "individulism is separate...." This is where I stopped listening. Anyway, great write up. I plan on reading it multiple times so I can present a rational argument to all the crazy left progressives I'm surrounded with.
This is stunning and refreshing.
A highlight for me in one of the quotes:
“The appropriate noises are coming out of his larynx, but his brain is not involved as it would be if he were choosing his words for himself. If the speech he is making is one that he is accustomed to make over and over again, he may be almost unconscious of what he is saying, as one is when one utters the responses in church. And this reduced state of consciousness, if not indispensable, is at any rate favourable to political conformity.”
Taking us to church!
Those closing three lines, wow.- “… the depths of the thickest cultural forest we’ve ever known in modern times… a bright hole through all the jungle to the outside world, open and free and beautiful.”
Thank you for extending “that beam of light to ultimate freedom,” Michael. These are imperative perspectives.
I hear a lot about Orwell but I was never exposed to him and truthfully have not made the effort. I appreciate you laying his writing out and applying it to today's cultural madness. Your point about today's youth not having any real problems is spot on. My best friend and I talks about this all the time. Life is so easy for them (generally speaking) so they make shit up as they go. It just seems like everyone wants to take part in the oppression Olympics or be the language police. If I hear my daughter use the term "social construct" one more time I'm going to explode. Our last heavy Convo was that I didn't believe that we all need to be reduced to a group & that we are all complex individuals etc...her response started w "individulism is separate...." This is where I stopped listening. Anyway, great write up. I plan on reading it multiple times so I can present a rational argument to all the crazy left progressives I'm surrounded with.