Liberals And Conservatives Both Buy Into Orwellian Trend

Liberals And Conservatives Have Embraced Big Government

As Americans profess to the world how they love their freedom they often seem ready to cast it away for the greater good or the promise that surveillance and more government control will make them safer. Neo-liberal Orwellian and neo-conservative Orwellian are terms that could be used to describe two rapidly growing power groups in America. Of course, neither of these groups would ever consider themselves as empowering the government to take away our rights and freedom." Sadly, under a, "it's not us it's them" mindset these people do not see themselves as surrendering power to the state because they are so focused on allowing the state to control those with opposing views. 

The writings of George Orwell, especially about his dystopian account of a future totalitarian state in Nineteen Eighty-Four, has made "Orwellian" an adjective describing a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It points to an attitude and often a brutal policy of draconian control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past, including the "unperson" which can take many forms. Whether it is a person that has been expunged from the public record and thus our memory or someone so restricted in movement and opportunity that they are shunned by society and having contact with them becomes dangerous to your social standing.

Orwell depicted how governments could take on a life of their own in his novels and criticized totalitarianism throughout his writings. Totalitarianism, the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism is a political concept that defines a mode of government, which prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. Political power in totalitarian states is generally held by one leader and an all-encompassing propaganda campaign, which is disseminated through the state-controlled mass media and is often marked by political repression, personality cultism, control over the economy and restriction of speech, mass surveillance and widespread use of state terrorism.

Hitler Has Been Made The Poster-boy Of Fascism

It is often conceived that conservatives are predisposed and lean towards keeping a close eye on the masses and are fascist by nature. Fascism is a form of radical authoritarian ultra-nationalism, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and the economy. Hearing this term we often think about the governments in Europe which came to prominence in early 20th-century. The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I before it spread to other European countries. Opposed to liberalism, Marxism and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far-right within the traditional left-right spectrum.

What is more interesting is that liberals have also "drank the kool-aid" and allowed themselves to be swept along and convinced having big-brother watching over them is beneficial. Those allowing a situation of being monitored to move forward are generally dismissive of the negative baggage that accompanies totalitarian states. In many ways, the impetus driving the creation of an Orwellian state is about values and sadly forcing yours upon everyone else whether you are a conservative or a liberal is an attack on diversification and individuality. While diversity can be seen as a double-edged sword because it often means tolerating those that are different the world would be less vibrant and a bit boring without it. Exceptionalism is the child of mankind not restrained by the limits culture often imposes.

Facial Recognition - China Expands Its Control

Currently, China is marrying Big Brother to Big Data. Going forward, every citizen will be watched and their behavior scored in the most ambitious and sophisticated system of social control in history. ABC Australian news ran a piece showing how the Chinese people are justifying this extension of government power. Somewhere between the claims of creating a safer and more just society the idea that a just government can address the social ills that plague us gives hope to the progressive movement. This means that while people in general often hold distrust of what they consider corrupt conservative organizations including politicians and the police watching closer their activities, ironically allowing such acts are often viewed as a way to make these organizations more accountable to the people.

Liberals are often idealist and in search of "utopia." This term was coined by Sir Thomas More and the title of his best-known work published in 1516. It stands as More's blueprint for an ideal society with minimal crime, violence, and poverty. Unfortunately, surveillance of people are now leading us towards a place where digital algorithms decide our fate and nothing can be questioned. This kind of dystopian community or society is not only undesirable and frightening it is the opposite of what More described. Dystopia is defined as a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. Dystopia is translated as "not-good place" and while politics often makes strange bedfellows this joining of both extremes willing to extend surveillance into every facet of our lives is both surprising and very troubling.

The course China has embarked upon should be raising huge cries of outrage across the world. This is happening in many countries such as Turkey, Iran, and even the UK where cameras watch and record everything and data is stored. The digital age has made it far easier for government to seize our computers and records to shape a case against anyone by massaging the data as they see fit. The reason we hear so little criticism of these actions from our government may be that we are next in line to have our freedom culled. Historian Robert Conquest describes "totalitarian" states as recognizing no limits to their authority in any sphere of public or private life and extending that authority wherever feasible. This is another way to say, power corrupts, "absolute power corrupts absolutely"


Footnote; This is part one of a five-part series that delves into how we are slipping into a "One World Orwellian Society" that removes our freedoms and relegates the average person into being nothing more than the pawn of the elites. The link below is to the ABC Australian news piece exposing how China has ramped up its "social rating program." This will give you an idea as to what we should expect.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViswN602_k

Footnote #2; Part two and three of this series has now been published and can be viewed at the links below.
 https://"Surveillance Justified" Expands Grip Of Orwellian State (Part 2).html
 https://Propaganda Convinces Us It Is All For The Greater Good (part 3).html