The events of recent weeks have thrust George Orwell to the forefront of America’s consciousness. Conservatives have warned of the allegedly “Orwellian” character of efforts to “cancel” Donald Trump and Josh Hawley. Liberals have mocked these complaints, holding that they depend on a very loose understanding of Orwell’s ideas. Sales of Orwell’s classic, “1984,” have skyrocketed as ordinary citizens try to sort it all out.
In the present controversy, the liberals have a point. Losing your Twitter account or your book contract are not exactly the same as having Big Brother’s boot in your face forever. The present controversy aside, however, there are several important (and frightening) respects in which the American left is Orwellian in character. Today’s left is a lot like “the Party” that rules Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia.
In “1984,” the Party fosters a kind of political monomania in its adherents. Party members are expected to place all of their deeds, words, and thoughts at the service of the Party and its ideology. A good party member has no topics of conversation other than the “principles of Ingsoc” — or English Socialism.
Read Full Article »