For our younger audience, there is a book written by George Orwell called 1984. It was written in 1947 and turned into a movie twice since then. This is where terms like “Big Brother is watching you”, “Newspeak”, “Thoughtcrime”, “The Ministry of Truth”, The Ministry of Peace”, The Ministry of Love”, and “The Ministry of Plenty” originate. Ironically the Ministry of Love is the most horrifying.
“The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.”
Here is a free link to the movie as it was released in 1984. It may be hard for the younger generation to watch as it is British and not filled with special effects. There is also the Audio Book from Audible which I recommend over the movie if you do not care to read.
The bottom line of the story is as old as human history. There are those who use various techniques to keep the masses under control. The movie opens with the line “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
While 1984 has come and gone, Orwell’s story of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever. Today it is coupled with mass media and big tech. While Orwell could only envision the government having enough power to control the people in his day, he could never have imagined mass media and big tech.
The same was true in the days of the writing of The Constitution. They never saw radio, television, and the internet coming. The government gave power to the media and big tech and allowed them to do what the government is forbidden to do. In part, they caused the crisis that now gives them an argument to undo everything we were founded on.
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