Tag: orwell

I know the adjective “Orwellian” is used too much

But sometimes you need to drag it out. This time it’s  the BBC news trying to choke down the latest buffet of insanity from our military in Iraq:

IRAQ ‘REVERSE SURGE’ PLAYS ON U.S. MINDS

There are a few gems, but this one stands out for me:

“US commanders are reluctant to allow the backward momentum of the reverse-surge process to merge seamlessly into a wholesale withdrawal of American forces“

What the hell does that mean? Mostly, it means that they don’t really want to pull the troops out yet. Or maybe ever. So the pull-out of troops is now a “reverse surge” and since the “surge” was a “good thing” this means we should be really careful and probably not do it! And we don’t want it to “merge seamlessly” into an actual withdrawal. In other words, because we’re not “surging” we should not leave for an undetermined time, because that would be, well, bad. Got  it?

This is that rare and beautiful news story in which every single item is a lie. An easy way to fix it up would be to replace each paragraph with this: “There is blood everywhere and no plan.”

I’ll  sell t-shirts! Meanwhile, as Orwell put it, “The fascist octopus has sung its swan song, and the jackboot  is in the melting pot.”

GO READ HIM NOW and every week from now on, so you can understand the weird stuff in the news. It’s a short little essay and people forget how important it  is.

My Orwellian Day

Nick and I talked for about an hour about Orwell and specifically 1984. People use the word “Orwellian” a lot or say “That’s so 1984“, but it’s a lot more than just totalitarianism and the abuse of language. 1984 is rich in detail and just about every single little detail is accurate almost to the degree of prophecy. If you haven’t read it, or haven’t read it in the last decade, go read.

Later I saw a regular whose name I didn’t know reading Orwell from a magazine reprint. I buttonholed him and said “Orwell! Good stuff!” and we had a big talk. He’s a high school teacher and was preparing lessons. I told him about the big fat cheap Orwell essays book. He said “Animal Farm is the book I recommend for my friends who don’t read, because it’s so easy and short and so full of huge ideas.” I really liked him. I also pointed him towards Politics and the English Language, about which he had forgotten.

Then I went to Mother’s and bought groceries and the cost was $19.84. At one point I was on a screen at the checkout that said “19.84: YES OR NO?” and to get my food I had to click YES. I clicked it. They fed me. I loved Big Mother.

In unrelated news I found out that the-silent-one has a GUN hanging in her DOGHOUSE. You’ve been warned.