1984

Open Thread - 04-26-24 - 2+2=5

The film clip immediately below is a scene from the movie 1984 starring Richard Burton as O'Brien and John Hurt as Winston Smith.

Here's a quick synopsis of the plot:

Winston Smith (John Hurt), a bureaucratic flunky living in the totalitarian state of Oceania, breaks the law by daring to fall in love with Ministry of Truth worker Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Attempting to escape, Winston and Julia are tracked down by the Thought Police. Both must be "re-educated" into loving the State -- and by extension, the shadowy dictator Big Brother.

Source (See the description below the youtube clip)

In this scene Winston is being physically tortured by Inner Party Member O'Brien to break him emotionally with the end result being Winston's confession that the false statement 2+2=5 is in reality actually true. O'Brien uses pain methodically, to impress upon Winston that the Party is in complete control and to break his will.

Winston is in great physical pain from the torture but it is the psychological fear of even more excruciating pain that ultimately breaks him. He just wants it to stop.

In 1984, "2+2=5" is a false statement created by the Party and an example of the many ways the Party controls people. In making people believe that a random, false statement is an objective truth, the Party distorts and claims control of truth itself. Winston understands that slogans like "2+2=5" are mechanisms of the Party's social control until he is tortured. In the end, he traces the equation in dust, showing that the Party eventually controls him, too.

Source

2:39

The Weekly Watch

Is it 1984?

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TPTB are now prosecuting wrong thought and "unacceptable" speech. Four members of the Africa Socialist Party have been indicted for spreading Russian propaganda...in other words, they are speaking out against the Ukraine proxy war. What about the first amendment? Tucker did a short piece (4 min) about it. Aaron and Katie interview a member of the party.

Then there's the guy who has been convicted with a prison term for posting an anti-Hillary meme. That's why I suggest we've arrived in 1984.

The book is set in 1984 in Oceania, one of three perpetually warring totalitarian states (the other two are Eurasia and Eastasia). Oceania is governed by the all-controlling Party, which has brainwashed the population into unthinking obedience to its leader, Big Brother. The Party has created a propagandistic language known as Newspeak, which is designed to limit free thought and promote the Party’s doctrines. Its words include doublethink (belief in contradictory ideas simultaneously), which is reflected in the Party’s slogans: “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength.” The Party maintains control through the Thought Police and continual surveillance.

The Continuation of the Project for a New American Century

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Back in September 2000, the neocon/Zionist think tank, Project for New American Century (PNAC), published a 90 page report called "Rebuilding America's Defenses - Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New Century." PNAC was founded by neocon/Zionists William Kristol and Robert Kagan and included many of the neocons that infested the Bush administration starting in 2001.

The Ultimate in Security for 21st Century American Patriots

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“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin

“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.”
― Emma Goldman

They've got Us Right where they Want Us.

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"The text indicates the social and political factors driving the resort to authoritarianism. It complains that the “financial crisis and the advance of new forms of digital media have posed serious challenges for quality journalism, leading to a decrease in critical thinking among audiences, thus making them more susceptible to disinformation and manipulation..”