The book ends with the appendix and index. You find out the book is written by a historian post 2050. The systems had failed, the proles took over because the party couldn't even understand them. All of the art and history the party tried to destroy was saved. People were free. Look it up.
Dystopias are one thing where people are simply oppressed, a dystopia that actively modifies the language so you can't even conceive of rebellion as an idea is something even worse
Which is the most dystopian state 1)1984 Oceania 2)HOI4 TNO Burgundian state 4)scp unlondon 5)north korea (real life one) 6)nazi germany(man in the high castle)
Perfect depiction of Orwell. He fought in Spanish civil war with the anarchist communists and was betrayed by statist communists who would rather side with Franco than give up chance for state control. Everything he wrote reeks of immense hate for fascism and what today would be called Marxism-Leninism and Stalinism.
A book written by a socialist who fought in the Spanish civil war on the communists side, was terrified of stalin's version of communism after his unit was wiped out by his own side, worked as the censor for the BBC in order to suppress his own ideology and point out people with his views or similar to the government, saw the west as becoming more like stalin's regime in order to fight him which became the premise of his book. Who stayed a devoted socialist even when targeted and censored by socialist regimes for being anti communist while also being censored by capitalist regimes for being anti capitalist only having it change when the cia decided to help him print his book in order to destabilize the USSR. And now 1984 is dumbed down and used to label any liberal ideas as totalitarian communism while not understanding that the opposite side sees the exact same thing in reverse. Christian conservative parents getting the book banned all over the place while your average conservative holds it as the thing the liberal elite dont want you to know. While realistically nearly everything invented in the book wasnt a prediction of the future but a look at Orwells own time and his experiences and understanding of the past. Doublespeak, newspeak etc are all not new concepts, these things have always existed with humanity but with less fancy names, doublespeak is just a bold face lie, and newspeak is just the change of language overtime. The actual scary part is that in 1984 all of this doesnt occur with time and culture as happens naturally but by decree of the state which people believe without question. I often find it funny how many of the biggest fans of 1984 recite terms from the book as if a bible, which is exactly the behavior of the followers of the party in the same book lol
I think the scariest part of 1984 is that, Oceania might not even be real. The UK could just be a crazed nuclear hermit kingdom that the world largely ignores because it isn’t the worth the trouble to try and mess with them.
I wish this was further discussed. All we know for certain is what Winston tells us from his own experience. Any information from the Party should be viewed skeptically at best.
@@blakemorris2328 And even his "old memories" can be easily morphed just from being in the Ministry of Truth for so long he just believes many of the Party's lies such as Oceania and Airstrip One is a part of it.
@@DaniG.German883"conservatives are very tolerant and good-hearted!!!" "Conservatives wont tolerate anything that goes against traditional ideas of america"
What coincidence, I just re-read this book last week. "His cigarette had gone out, and he laid it carefully on the edge of the table. He would finish smoking it after work, if he could keep the tobacco in it. Quite likely the person at the next table was a spy of the Thought Police, and quite likely he would be in the cellars of the Ministry of Love within three days, but a cigarette end must not be wasted."
I haven't read 1984 for awhile, why would saving a cigarette for later result in torture? Not that the Thought Police would need any resemblance of reason. hehe
And then his children went to the library to gain knowledge from books. Unfortunately, every book was gone. But at least the economy was vibrant. Unfortunately, it was not. There were no workers to build our buildings. We now understand, we live in an authoritarian dystopian.
@@meow1990_2 in short it is a sign of pleasure, pleasure is an individual thing, individual things are against the party rules. Cigarettes are just for pleasure same as alcohol and should not exist as the party wants to destroy all pleasure but here come the meaning of double think. You give you party members something to enjoy, they are not allowed to enjoy it but they are requested to use it, if someone enjoyes it or is showing enjoyment he is guilty of a thought crime and therefore a counter revolutionist! simple as that. pleasure for pleasures sake is against the party rules and a thought crime as is sex for sex sake and not just for reproduction!
My theory is that the "face" of big brother is actually that of an individual who opposed the party and was disposed of. The party then twisted his image into a symbol of its rule; a symbol that, in the ultimate irony, those who sought to destroy the party would come to despise.
One thing I find people seem to not understand about books like 1984. No matter what side you are on left/right socialist/capitalist etc is that each side if given the opportunity can easily lead to authoritarianism
When the movie with John Hurt came out, the reviewer in the NYT said that the the chief tool of the regime was language, which can be employed just as effectively under a tyrannical capitalism as under Soviet communism. (For those who forget, the POTUS at that time was Ronald Reagan.)
This is your own interpretation. However Orwell himself was very anti-socialist (though he was somewhat socialist himself). He was horrified by the soviet unions authoritarianism and saw a slippery slope to total dystopia. This book is a criticism of Socialisms tendency to fall to authoritarianism, and how if left unchecked can devolve into a total dystopia. It's also an observation of how the Nazi party started as socialism in order to gain popularity but then totally devolved into authoritarianism while keeping the socialist name. You can interpret this as authoritarian regimes using "socialist" or "democratic" in their names to hide what they truly are, but Orwell was mainly focused on socialism.
I saw a theatre production of 1984 and it had moments where it was explicitly stated that we were watching several post-party individuals dissecting a person diary (assumed to be the book of 1984 in a slightly different form), at the end of the play they stated that the government did fall to a revolution, however, one person notes that they perfectly understand double-think and newspeak, not only that but they're all convinced the man called Winston is just a creation as no record of them exists. one final moment happens were a character states, "wouldn't it make sense for the party to tell us it was overthrown? that the new order is better for all than the one before, did the party ever fall? can anyone remember the revolution?" none of the characters have an answer to that.
But like youd be able to tell? Like the proles in 1984 know whats happening to them to an extent but cant do anything against it. Those people supposedly would atleast know if information is being changed etc
@@jonathanreyes5254 I believe the idea they were going for was that the party gets smarter and subtler until people didn’t know they were being oppressed
The most horrifying part of this book is the last part when Ingsoc’s motives are laid bare, yet it’s never really referenced. It isn’t just a book about how bad it is when freedom is limited, like people often act. The horror of 1984 isn’t just an authoritarian government. It’s a government that has committed itself to pursue control for no other reason than the sake of control. Ingsoc and Big Brother aren’t even after power for their own benefit anymore. They’ve adopted an ideology of believing that controlling ideas and thoughts literally transforms reality. No other human endeavour is needed because reality itself is something they can control through human perception If the masses believe it then it’s true. If Ingsoc want them to believe differently tomorrow then that will also become true. If they want them to believe that the first belief never existed then that will become true. It’s a world where truth no longer exists, where there is no way to even measure objective reality anymore, where you can be made to believe anything. Winston is being controlled from the very beginning to the very end. His burgeoning internal thoughts of disdain for Big Brother are noticed, somehow. He is then made to believe he can meaningfully resist, just so he can be destroyed for his thought crime, and is finally made to genuinely love that fact.
"They’ve adopted an ideology of believing that controlling ideas and thoughts literally transforms reality." You have just described James Lindsay's interpretation of Left Wing Ideology in a nutshell.
@@justasplanned8023 Former left leaning atheist pushed to the right due to the overton window shifting. He digs up a lot of literature that explains most of the ideology behind the activism that has been popping up over the last decade. Marxism(and the ideologies born from it) is a repackaging of Hegelianism, which was heavily influenced by Hermeticism and some Gnosticism. The key concept here is the Principle of Correspondence "As above, so below; as below, so above." Marx took a similar approach to how culture and material conditions influence each other. His entire belief was that through remaking man into a socialist creature(man's original state according to him), we would usher in a communist utopian society. Changing reality by controlling thoughts and ideas.
@@clbrans1 In no way shape or form is Hegelian dialectics or Marxism about altering human thought. Unless you think any and all ideas are attempts to “control human thought” - which technically is true, in a way. You’re either massively misreading this man’s perspective, or he’s just a complete idiot. How has the Overton window shifted and forced him to the right exactly? I hear this kind of stupidity a lot
Hinduism is for a great part like that : on one side the acceptance of a caste society no one can change for the better for himself or for all, on the other side the belief that you can change reality by working on your own thoughts in perfect obedience to the Brahmin clergy (a model of absolute corruption).
Bro you didn't mention Goldstein at all, and the fact that it was a mechanism to capture the rebellious citizens and funnel them through the ministry of love. Winston was antigovernment in the first 90% of the book and ended up LOVING big brother at the end. This was the most impactful part of the novel to me. This is what made it such a great story, that they set up this "hero's journey" kinda story then absolutely pummeled all of the hope out of Winston and the reader for a happy triumphant ending. Fucking amazing book.
The one element Orwell wasn't able to predict I think was factionalism. The idea that people, mainly the proles could so deeply and cleanly divided, that the thought of revolution that constantly shuffled class in the past becomes inconceivable and is replaced by fears of civil war
An understanding of the 20th and 21st century requires a reading of Huxley combined with Orwell. Huxley had a better nose for the direction that mass media would go in and was more closely observing the way that marketing and advertising where being used to examine ways to manipulate and propagadize populations. Huxley might have understood the way the media was turned into a device to divide people and to create confusion with misleading "both sides" framing of social and political forces. One way to divide people is to allow factionalizing forces, like fascism, to take deep root. The media carried a lot of water for fascists and ethnostate nationalists and helped normalize their rhetoric. Which in turn massively aided their recruiting and radicalization efforts. The division has been further powered by the typical fascist tactic of contextualizing its victims as powerful enemies who are secretly in control of society - i.e. "see these minority and disenfranchised groups without power / who also have all the power and are the actual fascists dominating society". The old "the enemy is simultaneously strong / weak" strategy.
@@zubbworks Or clean house at long last. It's the people against the government in most nations now- and in the US, the government is vastly outnumbered by armed citizens who are becoming more defiant, and the feds are digging their own grave even deeper by alienating potential enforcers with wokeness in the armed forces. Dunno about the rest of the world, but America's chances of winning back its freedom are looking better everyday.
O'Brian was my favorite villain. So little was known about him and he only showed up in the book in a few scenes. Yet, he had the most effect on the fate of Winston and Julia throughout the story.
@@mumsyxc my fav thing is that obrien never really gave winston any reason to think he was a good guy in the first part of the book, instead winston is so deprived of genuine connection he pushes his own agenda on to obrien as a way to legitimise his own rebellious thoughts as a collective experience to relieve himself of his disruption from the norm. its evidnt i the first two minute hate when winston describes what he sees in obriens blank stare, when in reality he has always been cold and calculated. its something that really shows the corruption the party pushes onto its people.
I think the point is we can never know that the three superpowers and their ideologies actually exist. Airstrip one might be completely isolated, or Big Brother might be in power everywhere on earth. Nothing can be verified.
The prisoners being executed seem to be real : "A long line of trucks, with wooden-faced guards armed with sub-machine guns standing upright in each corner, was passing slowly down the street. In the trucks little yellow men in shabby greenish uniforms were squatting, jammed close together. Their sad, Mongolian faces gazed out over the sides of the trucks utterly incurious." If it were completely isolated where would this endless supply of Mongolian prisoners of war be coming from? Big brother is everywhere!
@@zardoz2006 they come form the other territories and are maybe rebels or just poor souls selected to maintain the lie. Similarly people from Airstrip 1 could be paraded in China as “dirty oceanians”
@@zardoz2006 It’s a good point, but the theme of one having one’s face changed comes up so often in the book that I would say even the first hand sight of asiatic people could not be verified by a character.
@@JBBostWell for me 1984 is pretty much the only book i can remember reading when i was 16. I know i had read more, but couldn´t name any specific ones anymore.
@@JBBost yes it shows that book had a impact on his mind. memory is a funny thing its impossible to remember everything so the mind filters out useless junk and helps us remember more important stuff like things that revoke strong feelings traumas or information needed for skills that we use often. So if you really remember books you read 30 years ago it speaks at valume about you.. it shows you have must lived a very lackluster life to remember such things :)
I think the scariest part about it is thoughcrimes, since on the surface it sounds like it requires literal mind reading, but in reality it's much more subtle and it's something we are very close to perfecting. Facial expressions, movements, intonations in voice. These are all clues to people's thoughts, and if fed the proper stimuli can be used to get a very good idea of how a person really thinks.
Recently there's an AI that can predict what your thinking by scanning your brain activity. We can imagine what will happen if that technology progresses (scanning is real time and at a distance) and in the wrong hands.
@@patnor7354 yes, I've liked few comments there like thousands of people like me, and now I'm shot, but I've supported lgbt, so they changed my password and I ressurected, but shot me again Welcome to North Korea, your bank account is no problem when you don't have money and internet.
Eck I have been watching your channel since 2016/2017 and I just want you to know that I am HERE for this kind of content. I’d love for varied content such as this.
My grandmother used to say..."If the government says that there are enough potatoes....that means you better stock up piles of potatoes because soon there won't be any". It's so relatable. Government always lies to keep the sheeple in place. I also keep a tape on my laptop's camera.
61,read it when I was 15. The scary part is the slow drip towards that reality. We have the right to free speech, unless that speech is considered violence and thus banned.
Today the. Uni Party that runs All CONUS only Gives the masses free Speech to scream and yell for what the Uni Party believes in. Just look as the public Fool system brainwash the young to their demonic ideas. Police State control is the computers and worse the damnable cell phones that know where you are and reinforced by 80 per cent of masses who believe what Big DC and controlled media tells them.WAR IS Peace Peace is War as the last empire strives to seize world control with bases in 80. countries. 1984 Is here.
One thing that I always thought was low-key the most disturbing aspect of the Party was that there didn't seem to be a specific "leader" at the top of the pyramid. We know the country is ruled by the "Inner Party" (more or less), but there doesn't seem to be any specific person actually directing anything. Big Brother is, or at least is heavily implied to be, a myth of sorts. There are probably committees and sub-committees running their specific slice of the system and creating or maintaining specific rules and regulations, but there's no "supreme chairmen" or "politburo" or "ruling council" actually holding power, just that top two percent (which, in absolute terms, is probably hundreds of thousands or millions of people) carrying on out of sheer inertia. There is no "head" to attack, no real leadership to overthrow, just a vast, self-sustaining machine that can never really be cast down or fought against. Fighting against the Party isn't like fighting a government, it's like trying to fight a wave or typhoon or some other vast, unthinking and unfeeling force of the natural world...
Well they do claim to be socialist so there should be no defacto leader as true socialism would mean all men being equal, any leader would have to be either a figurehead (like Big Brother), a vanguard (like Lenin "We rule only until the machines of government can be given to the people", Stalin conveniently forgot this bit when Lenin died) or an entire party (like the CCP after Mao's death. Until Deng Xiaoping decided China should have a leader after all and he should be the next one.) By having a figurehead instead of a real person it does suggest that Ingsoc are committed to socialism, or at least want the proles to believe that they are, though as we've seen over the past century with the likes of Stalin and Deng socialist regimes often become dictatorships for any man ambitious enough to grab for power, so I wouldn't be surprised if 'Big Brother' is just a face to keep the proles happy while the 15% of the population that belong to the party have a real human leader that is unknown to the proles.
Real life doesn't work like that though. If there really was a power vacuum at the top whatever top military commander would stage a coup and fill that in, as happens in real life in nations in which the central president or leader or prime minister is absent. A committee can't keep a large nation together without military backing.
There are no regulations there are no rules, only the thought police. Like it says in the book if the rules were made known the party’s hypocrisy would be laid bare. You are just supposed to know.
1984 is more relevant now than it has ever been. It’s comforting to know that it is still finding its way into the hands of modern generations, it means that there is still hope for the future.
@@r31n0ut really? no one is trying to re-write the past? No one is using double speak? Media isn't being used as a tool of the government? We're just building up to the 3rd world war.
Nah it’s always been there like in the 80s when Reagan gave weapon to the taliban and the news said bin laden fighting for freedom we all know what they actually fought for now the only place 1984 is more relevant is Russia and china because the government there had gotten more authoritarian
To quote Asimov’s review of 1984. “Orwell had no feel for the future, and the displacement of the story is much more geographical than temporal. The London in which the story is placed is not so much moved thirty-five years forward in time, from 1949 to 1984, as it is moved a thousand miles east in space to Moscow.”
@@Blacksmith__except Orwell never once visited the Soviet Union. He was a whiny little bitch about his side losing an internal power struggle, and decided to sell out to the CIA/MI6 with his writings, only to then get all his friends arrested for holding the same political views he did.
It's relatable in the same sense that having unlimited access and control over all the world's resources is relatable to someone with a dollar's worth in their pocket. Perhaps a tad more, unfortunately.
I read this book as a teenager, and again in my thirty’s. The movie with John Hurt and Richard Burton was very faithful to Orwells vision. I meet people who’ve never been exposed to Victory Gin, or doublethink, and I feel sorry for them.
If we didn't already live in a precursor world to ''1984'', this book would be required reading in every school in the country. And yet it's not. I saw the original 1950s movie, when I was a teenager, and shortly after read the book. Both the book and the movie depressed me, and open my eyes to politics. The later version of the movie with Richard Burton was a much glossier version of the first movie, but more accurate to the book.
It was super interesting to see how many parallels were present in We Happy Few. I just wish they had more funding for some minor tweeks to make the game that much better.
@@theguybehindyou4762 sorry, no, there is no comparing Joy and Adderall, and do you even know what most social workers do or how they are paid? It's amazing how much ignorance can be packed into so few words.
One of my favorite novels of all time, even ignoring its message, the way it's written from a possibly warped perspective and the world building is really good and unlike any other novel i ever read
That writing style is called unreliable narrator. This form was used in the book American Psycho but definingly not as well as 1984. Unreliable Narrator where you read a first person perspective story where the Narrator is confused whether the events happening around him/her is real.
1984 is subtly the most horrifying book ever made. Humanity could literally be trapped within a prison of its own creation with almost no hope of escape, it’s like a society wide Lou Garricks disease. Conscious but no way to take action, that is horrifying.
You best start believing in cyberpunk dystopias - because you're in one. FFS. Just look at the authoritarianism and massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich we witnessed during Covid! While we're forced to wear masks, take jabs, and isolate - the rich and famous are partying at Obamas birthday and the Oscars free of any restrictions.
well no, it's more that the Far Right Wing Nuts "Quote" and missuse of 1984, but they either never read or watched it at all or did not understood it when they try to bad mouth "anything woke" like not beeing a racist and use something as slur or gendering is "doublethink" and nuspeak for them. And then they unironicly claim that Immigrants are Lazy and Steal all the Jobs But it's far from a discussion
I love that last quote and how it contradicts the Big Brother posters. While there's always a 'boot stamping on a human face forever', BB's face still sticks to the street walls as the only human who is free, and he doesn't need to be a living human
I always had a thought that the party would fall eventually, no matter what; its desire for control and wanting to restructure everything would be its own undoing. Either it becomes way too rigid in its ways that a single blow wpuld shatter the whole thing in one fell swoop or that it becomes too comfortable with its place at the top that the slightest wind knocks it over. Nothing lasts forever
It's like the problem with DNA and cell replication. A copy of a copy of a copy. A mistake of a mistake of a mistake eventually kills an authoritarian.
The book ends with the appendix and index. You find out the book is written by a historian post 2050. The systems had failed, the proles took over because the party couldn't even understand them. All of the art and history the party tried to destroy was saved. People were free. Look it up.
There would always be a resistance movement in the shadows as the old people who remember a time before the regime came to power and the rebellious nature of kids wanting their own identity would seek guidance eventually listening to the older generation. yeah sure a large portion would still get brainwashed but the few that would listen to the older people would keep those thoughts, ideas etc with them for their whole lives eventually even after the old generation dies these people despite not knowing what it was like would want what was told to them. telling their kids about it the resistance would shrink at first but then grow eventually after a few decades a resistance movement would burst out of control for the authorities and the regime collapses. It’s a never ending struggle against truth seeking democracy and propaganda authoritarianism.
Can I make one correction. Winston Smith was broken, utterly, but he wasn't placed back into society just as a supporter. He was a symbol of the power of Big Brother, that noone can resist. As such, he was given a visible role (for an outer party member). However, this was always temporary. The last line of the book pretty much says Winston was executed by the party, with his last thought being love for Big Brother, a testiment to how utter his destruction was.
@clydedoris5002 yeah, and this is the thing. Other depictions of dystopia have the protagonist 'win' in some way V in V for Vendetta, John Preston in Equilibrium, etc. But Winstom loses, first mind, then body.
@@clydedoris5002O’Brien implied it but never confirmed it. He also implied that Winston could possibly be given the chance to live a full rest of his life
@@AllegiancyNo, not really. He flat-out tells Winston that he will not be spared, because no one is ever spared, but goes on to say that even if he were allowed to go on and live a full life, it wouldn’t matter, because he would never be the same.
Not necessarily. It can be a psychological death of Winston Smith. His death is up to interpretation, but I read it as the death of Winston’s individualism. ““He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain. He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” The top paragraph is actually incomplete, but it says that Winston is CURRENTLY sitting at the cafe reminiscing in his mind about the hallway, not the other way around.
this book shook me to my core. the only conceivable thing more frightening than the unknown is having your very person changed/ altered into an unrecognizable state. truly bone chilling
Really? This glossed over so much. The book goes into the reality of living like this. And it's lopelessly dark. As an aside, I interpreted the ending as Winston was unpersoned as would be expected for his treachery.
In a similar vein, V for Vendetta comes to mind; I know the film is relatively well known, but I’m not so sure about the literature. A number of video game series have shockingly deep lore, which might be worth exploring. Appreciate the new content in addition to the old, for sure.
Me too! The movie isn't great, I recall seeing it but that was many years ago. May revisit but I do love listening to the audiobook, the one published by Blackstone Audio (May, 2007) and read by Simon Pebble is fantastic.
Good that this book is being discussed considering that once upon a time it was required reading...and now it's banned in a lot of schools, same as Fahrenheit 451. Scary that considering the plots of both books EDIT: 19 May 2023 - Wow, lots of discussion which is always good....that being said....I first heard about these books being banned when talking with my sister a year or three ago ( her kid was getting on in school ) ...I was surprised and did some light poking online ( google, etc ). I didn't do an exhaustive investigation, or compile a 500 page report or make my own hour long youtube vid about the subject. A lot of schools doesn't mean all schools, or most schools, just that apparently there are more than a few that it's banned in and/or discussion of them being banned in. I certainly never said it was all schools or most schools. Hell I'm not sure why they would be banned or are banned. Someone apparently thinks I have an agenda and I'm not sure where they got that idea...
@@matrix-5466 I actually don't know myself, my sister has a kid going into school and it came up in conversation how the two books, which when we both went to school were required reading, were now banned.
The banning of books pisses me off to no end. In some cases it’s understandable(looking at you, Mein Kampf), but in most it’s just the overused tool of a bunch of soccer moms and old fuddy duddies who hate fun and haven’t laughed since the fucking renaissance.
Although Orwell wrote that the population would be under constant scrutiny. He didn’t envision that the population would also have the ability to constantly monitor the Government. Sadly even though, like BLM, where the proles have actual video of Government brutality a lot of the proles and outer party still think Big Brother can do no wrong.
Such a heartbreaking book. At the end Winston is walking around and passes Julia on his way to the bar and they don't even acknowledge one another. He then sits in the bar, loving the state, completely broken, sipping on disgusting gin. The house always wins and we are all doomed. Maybe one day humanity will get it right, but not in Winston's or our story. I pray for the quick and painless demise of humanity....we are led by corrupt incompetent leaders. We were all meant for more than this.
The funny thing is that the corruption and incompetence is precisely what prevented the 1984 scenario from fully taking place, even in the USSR or China. In the end the elites were more interested in corruption than the sheer exercise of power. North Korea is probably the closest, with the Eternal President taking the place of Big Brother.
@@sosadagod6963 You do realise that the inevitability of your torture by the government is no less than that of this person, right? Those in power are 60-80 years old, they will die in 20-30 years. You will not die. They will try to kill you before they die. Regardless of who you are a totalitarian government will affect your life drastically.
I periodically listen to the audiobook at work and it consistently blows my mind with just how much like 1984 the current political age is. Too many similarities.
that seems like a bit of an over-exaggeration. i don't see people getting publicly hanged for saying something, but i suppose i'm lucky to not live in a dictatorship.
@@manboy4720you’re seeing it, it’s just not the literal interpretation. People being arrested for Facebook posts. People banned from the digital public square. Pastors arrested for praying in proximity to abortion centers. Etc…. The idea of cancellation and erasure of people’s presence from society is in a figurative sense an allegory for hanging. It reaches the same goal, suppress those that exhibit wrong think.
I see doublethink everywhere, especially in the media and politics. Its as plain as day and people happily go though the mental exercise to internalize it and accept it just like in the book. Its automatic and natural for them too
Look for examples of this closer to home. North Korea might be a text book example, but things are often on a scale and we have moved on to a more complex society since 1948 when George wrote the book.
Nowadays you could add Cuba and Venezuela, although both countries military power is mediocre at best compared to North Korea's which is already debatable besides the "we've got nukes" argument.
@@AsymmetricalCrimes In which regard? Communist totalitarian countries blaming everything on others, there's only one political party holding the absolute truth, people are starving left right and center. The only major difference I see is their mediocre militaries as I've mentioned, thus not being able to truly threat anyone but themselves.
@@123456gordon Cuba and Venezuela's governments don't have a monopoly on truth in the same way North Korea does. North Koreans believe East Germany still exist. That's the level of control we're talking about. Cuba and Venezuela still allow outside influence, hell the U.S. has embassies in both countries. Outside news is still allowed in both countries, and the people have cell phones that let them record things like protests. Have you ever seen a protest in North Korea?
We just finished reading this book and highschool and I feel like I’ve been seeing 1984 everywhere and I thought to myself, “I’m probably only just starting to notice it now and it’s probably already been everywhere I just hadn’t realized” and then you drop this video. That’s crazy
Always tend to like your Star Wars content and I started watching when you used to do the ship breakdowns and various comparisons but is cool to see you branch into lesser known lores. I wonder if you would ever do a video or review of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's Long Earth series from the 2010's. If you've never heard of it it is a very good sci-fi multiEarth series from a couple of great authors.
I actually read the capitalistic version of 1984 in middle school. The book is called "Feed" (named after the computers people had in their heads) and it was quite good! Highly recommend it
1984 has anti-capitalist sentiments throughout, it functions as a warning for socialists not to let their ideology slip into authoritarianism like the Soviets did. Orwell was a communist.
@@aurelien5747 1984 is considered a socialist totalitarian regime. Feed is considered a capitalist totalitarian regime. Feed is the capitalist version of 1984, and 1984 is the socialist version of Feed.
Surprised I'm not seeing more comments like this, but you're absolutely 100% right, and it's been drifting further that way since basically 9/11. Not that the government hasn't always spied on it's own citizens are created falsehoods to justify endless wars or anything, but more to the fact technology has advanced so much since the early 2000s to the point now everyone carries a phone in their pocket and said phone is always listening/watching them, as is social media in general, which essentially act as social-engineering platforms to sway public opinion and also act as a international database where naive and foolish people put all their personal information online for the world to see. Privacy and liberties are becoming a thing of the past as people blindly and willingly accept all the BS the government forces on them. People now are more depressed than ever, unhealthier as ever, demoralized into believing nonsense like "50 genders exist" and other falsehoods and ridiculousness...There's still a lot of people like you and I who are awake to it, but people like us are routinely censored and demonized as "conspiracy theorists" by the powers that be.
Its all thanks to anti-capitalists. Anti-free-marketists. People who do not want anyone to own anything, so they can have what they cant afford, because they are either too lazy to acquire these possessions themselves or too stupid to obtain the jobs to afford such things. The only people shouting for communism/socialism are broke teenagers that want their neighbors Ferrari without buying their own. Free markets are a beautiful thing. Capitalism creates beautiful inventions. Capitalism literally started the industrial revolution and helped create all the modern technology you use today. Without capitalism, the world would still look like the early 1700's. There would be no TH-cam. No Google. No smartphones. Its hilarious that people want to regress society back to the times of peasants and kings just like 1984. Communism is literally Monarchy without a king. Its just poor people growing crops for their leader. Its slavery.
You are so right and if the orange devil incarnate gains control of the White House you can say goodbye to freedom. He wants to make America an authoritarian state. Beware the man in sheep’s clothing. 🐑
I think you nailed one of the major themes of the book, that objective truth and freedom are fundamentally linked. Which is why the enlightenment ideals that founded Western democracies were obsessed with objectivity: “We hold these truths to be self evident…”
Holding something to be self evident is not the same as objectivity. In fact such assumptions - when latched on to religiously - can (or will) close you off from seeing the world as it really is.
you're holding the United States' declaration of independence in too high regard. Most modern western democracies are built as delegations of power to an elected few. They're not based on the will of the people and objective truth, but rather a delegation of a function of ruling to people selected via popularity and not competence, that made a career based on ruling a society.
I started watching ur hockey channel and absolutely loved it. The fact that I am finding another one of ur channels with a whole another subject I find enjoyment in speaks volumes of ur diversity of thought. Cant wait to keep watching
What George Carlin referred to as the soft language that we use today, is actually a variation on Newspeak. You hear it every day on news broadcasts. The words are chosen very carefully to convey the emotional response that is desired. Just listen carefully to a news broadcast and you'll see hopefully the words are selected. A good example of perhaps the most Orwellian phrase to enter our current language is, '' If you see something, say something!'' it encourages people to denounce each other to the government.
Agreed. I ain’t a snitch and I never will be, luckily, (nearly) everyone else in my area shares the same sentiment as me. I’m not in a libtard zone, yet.
I love the breath of fresh air, hay I am a Star Wars nerd threw and threw but seeing you doing different subjects but putting your Eckharts charm to it bings it together amazingly. Love it!
17:08 personally that is my favorite theory that oceania is only the british island and a bit of irland maybe they are fighting the irish resistance instead of the imaginary east asia or eurasia, and the rest of the world is practically the same as in our timeline maybe after the cold war the united nation might have to intervere i wonder what happened if the invasion scenario comes to place and what is the aftermath
@@EckhartsLadder well the mass histeria of knowing the truth would be so great that the un would send an army of therapist first before the food and medicine
@@michaelarsaadyatma Or will just leave the country to its own devices, just supplying it with enough aid to prevent the total collapse of the country.
@@misterjei yea the mass histeria could become mass depression and probably mass suicide, aaaand they probably kidnap foreigner probably jounalist and actifist and claimed that they are eurasian and east asian spy/soldier
Here's some doublethink: 1) Illinois is the safest state to live in due to gun control. 2) The reason Chicago is so violent is because they get guns from other states.
The worst part is there is a Huge possiblity that Eurasia is entirely lying and there is an entirely differentiated world outside of The oceanias Airstrip one
Ikr I think it's just England who thinks this way and the party took control after a global nuclear war that nearly killed off humanity allowing the party to easly take control and manipulate events so much that not even the last generations can remember correctly even if they lived it
When the book was written most of the world was still governed by massive empires, so the setting shown is probably accurate. North Korea wasn’t some weird anomaly, and hadn’t really become much of a thing yet beyond the half of Korea overseen by the Soviets. Stalin’s empire, however, was a big deal.
I loved the video and especially the segment on doublethink. Not too many people focus on it and the implications of INGSOC creating doublethink. Could you cover Fahrenheit 451 next?
We do live in a modern version of 1984. We are removing words from the spoken language. We change facts and suppress "wrong" opinions. We have devices around us that always listen and film. Instead of books we have the Internet where you can change everything, history of facts, with the push of a button.
@@emmastrange5557I’m assuming you’re talking about Florida, where that’s simply not happening. Go read the bill that you’re referencing; it prevents teachers from discussing all sexual material to young children in classrooms. You yourself have fallen victim to propaganda.
There are a few things i think is most valuable to learn from 1984. One is that controlling words, does controlling minds. There are studies into how expanded vocabulary expands the ability to critical think, and vice versa. Also, that we associate emotional value to words, so when you redefine the word, or change the word (even if it means the same thing) you can get people to change their opinion. My go to example is colored people and people of color. They mean the same thing but carry different emotional loads for people. My 2nd big take away from this book was double think, which is a diabolical and fascinating topic. Because when someone believes contradictory ideas, when one is challenged they can retreat to the other. Additionally when onto confrontation it creates large cognitive dissonance, and since most people cant handle it, or afraid to face the dissonance they instead turn their mind off and dont engage the critique thus further locking themselves in the mental trap. Their thinking becomes their prison.
I have come to the conclusion that many people who practice "double think" only do so for the public. They, in reality, want the think you are criticizing them for wanting. However, they need an excuse to cloak their ill intentions. From WMDs to banning heterodox speakers at Universities by claiming their speech is "dangerous". [Sighs] Lying, it takes 2 to tango. One to speak the lie, the other to believe it.
@@raymond_luxury_yacht Republicans love pushing their Cancel Culture. You seem confused. Look at how they send death threats to employees at Target or hospitals because they don't fit their Republican agenda.
It was published in 1948. Had it been published in 1947 it would have been called "1974." Orwell wrote it as satire rather than a warning because the "Cold War" was in its infancy. He wasn't saying it would or wouldn't happen, just that it was a possibility. An immense work that everyone should read. It's typical Orwell and naturally depressing because of the subject matter...
The older I get the more soul chilling this book becomes. Since it is grounded in the reality of human perversities it is one of the most believable dystopias ever conceived.
I like to think about power in social systems like mass in physical systems. In classical mechanics, mass seeks itself via gravity - in the same way, power seeks itself in political mechanics, and concentration of power is an undercurrent that powers much of history. Unfortunately, if you extend that analogy further, physical systems (i.e. astral bodies, orbital interaction) tend to be most stable when there's a strict hierarchy of bodies (i.e. when most areas are gravitationally dominated by as few bodies as possible). Stagnant, but stable.
@@henryptunghaha, found the thought police. Your message is literally supporting elitism. Hey bro guess what, this ain’t a story in a book, and this is real life. You lost from day one.
@@treheron I'm not supporting hierarchical systems, I'm just observing one tendency that produces them. Concentration of power can and has been counteracted (checks and balances in government systems are specifically about this), but it has to be done consciously and persistently, and people will continue to find ways to circumvent those checks over time (e.g. parallel hierarchies in political parties, external control via financial means, etc.) if vigilance isn't maintained. Dynamic stability is very achievable - the JWST is parked at an unstable Lagrange point and will be for decades to come - but it's not automatic and requires strict and regular maintenance. That's the point I'm getting at - vigilance and active correction is critical to such systems, and it _will_ fall apart if you get lazy about it.
@@henryptung “Physical systems tend to be most stable when there’s a strict hierarchy of bodies (dominated by as few bodies as possible.)” paraphrased a bit, but you get the point. My only response to you, is if this system of hierarchy is more stable than others, then why has history shown that every time there’s a disproportionate amount of power, given to the elite few, with the working class getting poorer and poorer. It’s not stable, it doesn’t work, everytime there’s been a tyrannical government they’ve always gotten overthrown. This will happen to the end of time, until people stop being greedy. Until, I, stop being greedy.
@@treheron > everytime there’s been a tyrannical government they’ve always gotten overthrown. Except for the ones that are currently in place - North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China, etc. You can look at the Economist Democracy Index if you want a general idea of how much of the world is/isn't democratically governed. And yes, dictatorships will also age and die over time (eventually, effective rulers will be replaced by ineffective successors, old structures will fail to adapt to new conditions, and challengers will usurp their rivals) but more often than not, it ends up being replaced by another dictatorship. Freedom is a precious and beautiful thing, but thinking that it's some kind of natural state that the world tends to automatically is little more than wishful ideology. It has to be crafted carefully and maintained with vigilance to last, or else backslide will occur. And to be clear, even apparent "democracies" can be deeply flawed and unbalanced. Money and bribery can turn an entire government system into a farce, controlled externally by vast concentrations of wealth. > This will happen to the end of time, until people stop being greedy. Tyrannical systems form _because_ of limitless greed in people. Not sure what point you're trying to make here.
@@bigolbearthejammydodger6527 I liked the writing of 451 but thought a lot of it was kind of batshit. Especially, the contention that mass censorship came about because of "minorities and special interest groups" was pretty unsettling. Bradbury went on to say the America of the 1970s had essentially reached that stage because the gays got mad at him when he said homophobic things.
@@danielkrohn4980 well im english, and literally living through censorship brought about with the excuse of protecting minorities and special interests.
Do something about it, start speaking up. You don’t need a rebellion. You just need to USE. YOUR. VOICE. I know it sounds cliche, but you matter dude, more than you can ever know. So just be you.
I read the book a few years ago, but just getting this refresher sends a chill down my spine because I see aspects of it playing out in reality. Whenever I see that a word has been redefined or removed from an old class book I think of 1984.
a word redefined? how about those people removing books from schools and sometimes burning them, and getting overzealous about what even a parent might say to their kids?
@@xBINARYGODx yeah, Johnny the Walrus shouldn't be banned, parents should be allow to judge whether or not their kids can read it. Now if we're talking about books about adult sex and nudity, then I'd say let's wait until those kids are teenagers before showing them that stuff.
I found that book and Margret Atwood to be horribly overrated. She's just another pseudointellectual socialite. She's very good at saying the fashionable things; doubt She'd every go against the grain. If you want to find a good social critic - look for those who are shunned by the Elites and are comfortable with that.
Great book, great movie. I read the book first. It scares me how well some of the scenes replicated my imagination when reading the book. They really dug into the descriptions when they did the movie. Nice change Echarts from your usual content of Star Wars. I think you can do more content on this considering its politically relevant today.
I like to think, and have therefore interpreted in part, that 1984 teaches us to do one thing, above all: Question Your Government. And, if you ask me, that's the most democratic and free thing I can think of, to question one's government and keep them attached to reality. (Of course, your mileage may vary, but that's life, y'know?)
Amen. People always seem to try spin 1984 into a left vs right thing, a communism vs fascism thing. In reality it's a libertarian-ism vs authoritarian thing. Question your leaders no matter the ideology they serve, and keep yourself free.
I mean… I think the divergence point is pretty clear: 1948, when Orwell wrote it. That’s why he titled it 1984. He just flipped the digits. He was taking what he already saw in the UK in the truly awful immediate post-war period and trying to warn people about where he thought they were headed.
Everyone is saying we live in 1984 but I feel like we are still very very very far from it. You can still call the president a piece of shit, but in the book, you wouldn’t be able to even comprehend the concept of criticizing Big Brother.
Interesting that when you read this you just think of some prison hellscape but when you watch a movie its just a community untrustful which is almost scarier given how you could make a video about our day to day lives in which we dont notice how crazy it is
I've decided to make a new book-club for these sci-fi videos. You can vote on the next books and add your voice: www.patreon.com/EckhartsLadder
cool
4:10
Silo has been interesting, while not the same they have the same vibe and feel to it as 1984
I would love more videos like this one, possibly more George Orwell, or Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" short story.
Keep up the good work!
The book ends with the appendix and index.
You find out the book is written by a historian post 2050. The systems had failed, the proles took over because the party couldn't even understand them. All of the art and history the party tried to destroy was saved. People were free. Look it up.
Dystopias are one thing where people are simply oppressed, a dystopia that actively modifies the language so you can't even conceive of rebellion as an idea is something even worse
This literally happened in communist china during mao Zedong's rule.
@Darth Vader agreed, thats why communists are scum. Not only do they want to take away your private property but they also want your thoughts
@Darth Vader happening everywhere right now
Which is the most dystopian state
1)1984 Oceania
2)HOI4 TNO Burgundian state
4)scp unlondon
5)north korea (real life one)
6)nazi germany(man in the high castle)
@@Trollge398 Oceania.
1984, a book banned for being too communist, and a book banned for being too anti-communist.
Perfect depiction of Orwell. He fought in Spanish civil war with the anarchist communists and was betrayed by statist communists who would rather side with Franco than give up chance for state control. Everything he wrote reeks of immense hate for fascism and what today would be called Marxism-Leninism and Stalinism.
I think this is less doublethink and more Idiocracy 😑
That Party, as they ban the book: "1984, all those silly legends. They die today."
A book written by a socialist who fought in the Spanish civil war on the communists side, was terrified of stalin's version of communism after his unit was wiped out by his own side, worked as the censor for the BBC in order to suppress his own ideology and point out people with his views or similar to the government, saw the west as becoming more like stalin's regime in order to fight him which became the premise of his book. Who stayed a devoted socialist even when targeted and censored by socialist regimes for being anti communist while also being censored by capitalist regimes for being anti capitalist only having it change when the cia decided to help him print his book in order to destabilize the USSR.
And now 1984 is dumbed down and used to label any liberal ideas as totalitarian communism while not understanding that the opposite side sees the exact same thing in reverse. Christian conservative parents getting the book banned all over the place while your average conservative holds it as the thing the liberal elite dont want you to know. While realistically nearly everything invented in the book wasnt a prediction of the future but a look at Orwells own time and his experiences and understanding of the past. Doublespeak, newspeak etc are all not new concepts, these things have always existed with humanity but with less fancy names, doublespeak is just a bold face lie, and newspeak is just the change of language overtime. The actual scary part is that in 1984 all of this doesnt occur with time and culture as happens naturally but by decree of the state which people believe without question. I often find it funny how many of the biggest fans of 1984 recite terms from the book as if a bible, which is exactly the behavior of the followers of the party in the same book lol
@@sookendestroy1 Yeah Orwell was a Trotskyist.
I think the scariest part of 1984 is that, Oceania might not even be real. The UK could just be a crazed nuclear hermit kingdom that the world largely ignores because it isn’t the worth the trouble to try and mess with them.
north korea
I wish this was further discussed. All we know for certain is what Winston tells us from his own experience. Any information from the Party should be viewed skeptically at best.
@@blakemorris2328 And even his "old memories" can be easily morphed just from being in the Ministry of Truth for so long he just believes many of the Party's lies such as Oceania and Airstrip One is a part of it.
@@blakemorris2328 That man there officer, he questioned the Party.
Are youdescribing the status of the United Kingdom post Empire or post Brexit?😂
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”
Men can be women and women can be men
@@DaniG.German883"conservatives are very tolerant and good-hearted!!!" "Conservatives wont tolerate anything that goes against traditional ideas of america"
@@zaviear “leftist are very tolerant””leftist love free speech and diversity of opinion”
@@DaniG.German883 you didnt even made the ideas contradictory so it could be "doublethink" lolll
@@zaviear leftist don’t value freedom of speech and are certainly not tolerant of different beliefs
What coincidence, I just re-read this book last week.
"His cigarette had gone out, and he laid it carefully on the edge of the table. He would finish smoking it after work, if he could keep the tobacco in it. Quite likely the person at the next table was a spy of the Thought Police, and quite likely he would be in the cellars of the Ministry of Love within three days, but a cigarette end must not be wasted."
Similar here, just for me it was the first time. I pushed reading it away for years now and right now I'm on the last pages.
I did two weeks ago. I thought I was done with this book but I guess not
I haven't read 1984 for awhile, why would saving a cigarette for later result in torture? Not that the Thought Police would need any resemblance of reason. hehe
And then his children went to the library to gain knowledge from books. Unfortunately, every book was gone. But at least the economy was vibrant. Unfortunately, it was not. There were no workers to build our buildings. We now understand, we live in an authoritarian dystopian.
@@meow1990_2 in short it is a sign of pleasure, pleasure is an individual thing, individual things are against the party rules.
Cigarettes are just for pleasure same as alcohol and should not exist as the party wants to destroy all pleasure but here come the meaning of double think.
You give you party members something to enjoy, they are not allowed to enjoy it but they are requested to use it, if someone enjoyes it or is showing enjoyment he is guilty of a thought crime and therefore a counter revolutionist!
simple as that.
pleasure for pleasures sake is against the party rules and a thought crime as is sex for sex sake and not just for reproduction!
My theory is that the "face" of big brother is actually that of an individual who opposed the party and was disposed of. The party then twisted his image into a symbol of its rule; a symbol that, in the ultimate irony, those who sought to destroy the party would come to despise.
I believe it's specifically the face of the FIRST person to rebel :)
My theory was that he was just a random actor, but your theory sounds much more like something the party would do.
After all, Goldstein the "enemy" turns out to have been one of the authors of "the Book", so the opposite could have been done...
That's ridiculouos
Sounds like exactly the kind of thing they would do.
It's an idealized younger picture of Emmanuel Goldstein. That's my theory.
The ending of 1984 isn't hopeless; it is written in past tense and comes across more as a historical recount
Yes, but... historical account by whom?
@Pills _ - You'll have to wait for _1984: Part 2_ to come out.
I have no idea what's taking the writer so long!
@@BugRibhe’s currently suffering from a small case of death
@@pills- Michael Malice, author of The White Pill and Dear Reader
@@JH-wi2xr Very serious. Almost always fatal in such cases...
One thing I find people seem to not understand about books like 1984. No matter what side you are on left/right socialist/capitalist etc is that each side if given the opportunity can easily lead to authoritarianism
When the movie with John Hurt came out, the reviewer in the NYT said that the the chief tool of the regime was language, which can be employed just as effectively under a tyrannical capitalism as under Soviet communism.
(For those who forget, the POTUS at that time was Ronald Reagan.)
Tell that to the right wingers and anti semites in this comment section. Jesus what a shit show
@@mumsyxcRonald Reagan was famously anti large government
There are no sides.
This is your own interpretation. However Orwell himself was very anti-socialist (though he was somewhat socialist himself). He was horrified by the soviet unions authoritarianism and saw a slippery slope to total dystopia. This book is a criticism of Socialisms tendency to fall to authoritarianism, and how if left unchecked can devolve into a total dystopia. It's also an observation of how the Nazi party started as socialism in order to gain popularity but then totally devolved into authoritarianism while keeping the socialist name.
You can interpret this as authoritarian regimes using "socialist" or "democratic" in their names to hide what they truly are, but Orwell was mainly focused on socialism.
I saw a theatre production of 1984 and it had moments where it was explicitly stated that we were watching several post-party individuals dissecting a person diary (assumed to be the book of 1984 in a slightly different form), at the end of the play they stated that the government did fall to a revolution, however, one person notes that they perfectly understand double-think and newspeak, not only that but they're all convinced the man called Winston is just a creation as no record of them exists. one final moment happens were a character states, "wouldn't it make sense for the party to tell us it was overthrown? that the new order is better for all than the one before, did the party ever fall? can anyone remember the revolution?" none of the characters have an answer to that.
Well that's terrifying
Well that’s gonna keep me awake at night
But like youd be able to tell? Like the proles in 1984 know whats happening to them to an extent but cant do anything against it. Those people supposedly would atleast know if information is being changed etc
@@jonathanreyes5254 I believe the idea they were going for was that the party gets smarter and subtler until people didn’t know they were being oppressed
@@mrkuilko Yes
Literally 1984
Literally 1984
Literally 1984
Literally 1984
Literally 4891
Literally 1984
The most horrifying part of this book is the last part when Ingsoc’s motives are laid bare, yet it’s never really referenced. It isn’t just a book about how bad it is when freedom is limited, like people often act.
The horror of 1984 isn’t just an authoritarian government. It’s a government that has committed itself to pursue control for no other reason than the sake of control. Ingsoc and Big Brother aren’t even after power for their own benefit anymore.
They’ve adopted an ideology of believing that controlling ideas and thoughts literally transforms reality. No other human endeavour is needed because reality itself is something they can control through human perception
If the masses believe it then it’s true. If Ingsoc want them to believe differently tomorrow then that will also become true. If they want them to believe that the first belief never existed then that will become true.
It’s a world where truth no longer exists, where there is no way to even measure objective reality anymore, where you can be made to believe anything.
Winston is being controlled from the very beginning to the very end. His burgeoning internal thoughts of disdain for Big Brother are noticed, somehow. He is then made to believe he can meaningfully resist, just so he can be destroyed for his thought crime, and is finally made to genuinely love that fact.
"They’ve adopted an ideology of believing that controlling ideas and thoughts literally transforms reality."
You have just described James Lindsay's interpretation of Left Wing Ideology in a nutshell.
@@clbrans1
Who is he and why should I care? Also elaborate
@@justasplanned8023 Former left leaning atheist pushed to the right due to the overton window shifting. He digs up a lot of literature that explains most of the ideology behind the activism that has been popping up over the last decade.
Marxism(and the ideologies born from it) is a repackaging of Hegelianism, which was heavily influenced by Hermeticism and some Gnosticism.
The key concept here is the Principle of Correspondence "As above, so below; as below, so above." Marx took a similar approach to how culture and material conditions influence each other. His entire belief was that through remaking man into a socialist creature(man's original state according to him), we would usher in a communist utopian society.
Changing reality by controlling thoughts and ideas.
@@clbrans1
In no way shape or form is Hegelian dialectics or Marxism about altering human thought. Unless you think any and all ideas are attempts to “control human thought” - which technically is true, in a way.
You’re either massively misreading this man’s perspective, or he’s just a complete idiot. How has the Overton window shifted and forced him to the right exactly? I hear this kind of stupidity a lot
Hinduism is for a great part like that : on one side the acceptance of a caste society no one can change for the better for himself or for all, on the other side the belief that you can change reality by working on your own thoughts in perfect obedience to the Brahmin clergy (a model of absolute corruption).
Bro you didn't mention Goldstein at all, and the fact that it was a mechanism to capture the rebellious citizens and funnel them through the ministry of love. Winston was antigovernment in the first 90% of the book and ended up LOVING big brother at the end. This was the most impactful part of the novel to me. This is what made it such a great story, that they set up this "hero's journey" kinda story then absolutely pummeled all of the hope out of Winston and the reader for a happy triumphant ending. Fucking amazing book.
bro couldn't watch 10 minutes before commenting. yikes.
That's not a happy triumphant ending dude.
Loving big brother? Or simply submissive? There is a difference
@@pitchforkpeasant6219he loved him by the end thats the point
@@pitchforkpeasant6219they made him genuinely love him
The one element Orwell wasn't able to predict I think was factionalism. The idea that people, mainly the proles could so deeply and cleanly divided, that the thought of revolution that constantly shuffled class in the past becomes inconceivable and is replaced by fears of civil war
An understanding of the 20th and 21st century requires a reading of Huxley combined with Orwell. Huxley had a better nose for the direction that mass media would go in and was more closely observing the way that marketing and advertising where being used to examine ways to manipulate and propagadize populations. Huxley might have understood the way the media was turned into a device to divide people and to create confusion with misleading "both sides" framing of social and political forces.
One way to divide people is to allow factionalizing forces, like fascism, to take deep root. The media carried a lot of water for fascists and ethnostate nationalists and helped normalize their rhetoric. Which in turn massively aided their recruiting and radicalization efforts. The division has been further powered by the typical fascist tactic of contextualizing its victims as powerful enemies who are secretly in control of society - i.e. "see these minority and disenfranchised groups without power / who also have all the power and are the actual fascists dominating society". The old "the enemy is simultaneously strong / weak" strategy.
Ironically tbh since Orwell was a Trotskyist and was a product of factionalism.
Afraid of civil war?
We'll kick our own ass again, just like last time.
@@zubbworks Or clean house at long last. It's the people against the government in most nations now- and in the US, the government is vastly outnumbered by armed citizens who are becoming more defiant, and the feds are digging their own grave even deeper by alienating potential enforcers with wokeness in the armed forces. Dunno about the rest of the world, but America's chances of winning back its freedom are looking better everyday.
Thank you. Somebody else out there gets it.
O'Brian was my favorite villain. So little was known about him and he only showed up in the book in a few scenes. Yet, he had the most effect on the fate of Winston and Julia throughout the story.
He was a very scary villain because he could come across as a good guy, and show his true colors only in the Ministry of Love.
@@mumsyxc True.
@@mumsyxc my fav thing is that obrien never really gave winston any reason to think he was a good guy in the first part of the book, instead winston is so deprived of genuine connection he pushes his own agenda on to obrien as a way to legitimise his own rebellious thoughts as a collective experience to relieve himself of his disruption from the norm. its evidnt i the first two minute hate when winston describes what he sees in obriens blank stare, when in reality he has always been cold and calculated. its something that really shows the corruption the party pushes onto its people.
His true maliciousness was when he brought up the rats .. he cracked the hell out of my guy 😔
He has so many quotable lines despite only appearing at the end of the novel
I think the point is we can never know that the three superpowers and their ideologies actually exist. Airstrip one might be completely isolated, or Big Brother might be in power everywhere on earth. Nothing can be verified.
Oceania is either a nuclear hermit state Britain, or literally the entire earth.
That’s why I love this book, you just don’t know
Oceania is like North Korean
The prisoners being executed seem to be real : "A long line of trucks, with wooden-faced guards armed with sub-machine
guns standing upright in each corner, was passing slowly down the street. In the trucks little yellow men in shabby greenish uniforms were squatting, jammed close together. Their sad, Mongolian faces gazed out over the sides of the trucks utterly incurious."
If it were completely isolated where would this endless supply of Mongolian prisoners of war be coming from?
Big brother is everywhere!
@@zardoz2006 they come form the other territories and are maybe rebels or just poor souls selected to maintain the lie.
Similarly people from Airstrip 1 could be paraded in China as “dirty oceanians”
@@zardoz2006 It’s a good point, but the theme of one having one’s face changed comes up so often in the book that I would say even the first hand sight of asiatic people could not be verified by a character.
I have read 1984 when i was 16, and i still remember a lot of it now 27 years later. Which shows just how powerful that book was.
That's more a statement on you. I remember books I read 30 years later. It's called a memory.
@@JBBostWell for me 1984 is pretty much the only book i can remember reading when i was 16.
I know i had read more, but couldn´t name any specific ones anymore.
@@JBBost yes it shows that book had a impact on his mind. memory is a funny thing its impossible to remember everything so the mind filters out useless junk and helps us remember more important stuff like things that revoke strong feelings traumas or information needed for skills that we use often. So if you really remember books you read 30 years ago it speaks at valume about you.. it shows you have must lived a very lackluster life to remember such things :)
Yeah I was 17 and still love this book. I'm going to read it again
@@bartthebosOr, I have a savant memory and remember entirely too much in general
I think the scariest part about it is thoughcrimes, since on the surface it sounds like it requires literal mind reading, but in reality it's much more subtle and it's something we are very close to perfecting. Facial expressions, movements, intonations in voice. These are all clues to people's thoughts, and if fed the proper stimuli can be used to get a very good idea of how a person really thinks.
Recently there's an AI that can predict what your thinking by scanning your brain activity. We can imagine what will happen if that technology progresses (scanning is real time and at a distance) and in the wrong hands.
@@patnor7354 yes, I've liked few comments there like thousands of people like me, and now I'm shot, but I've supported lgbt, so they changed my password and I ressurected, but shot me again
Welcome to North Korea, your bank account is no problem when you don't have money and internet.
@@user-qi6pv9jh7o k bot
Can't read my poker face 😑
“Speak to Me”
My favorite line in the book is when Big Brother tells the titular character, George Orwell, that he must not post memes in #general.
"ugh, this is literally 1984"
-🤓
My favorite part of the book is when Big brother says " literally 1984" and 1984s all over 1984
Those are not in the book! Has some Winston Smith been messing with the book you were reading?
@@mumsyxc that joke went over your head didn't it
@@Dr._Heinz_Doofenshmirtz It sure must have gone over my head :/
Eck I have been watching your channel since 2016/2017 and I just want you to know that I am HERE for this kind of content. I’d love for varied content such as this.
Ddvv
Seriously, you've gotten so insanely good.
Same here. Also really enjoyed the random Elden ring lore vid a while back.
I am 75, and read 1984 at about 12 years old. I have questioned the government ever since.
My grandmother used to say..."If the government says that there are enough potatoes....that means you better stock up piles of potatoes because soon there won't be any". It's so relatable. Government always lies to keep the sheeple in place. I also keep a tape on my laptop's camera.
61,read it when I was 15. The scary part is the slow drip towards that reality. We have the right to free speech, unless that speech is considered violence and thus banned.
well u fucked up because the real dystopia that we are sliding into is brave new world
Today the. Uni Party that runs All CONUS only Gives the masses free Speech to scream and yell for what the Uni Party believes in. Just look as the public Fool system brainwash the young to their demonic ideas. Police State control is the computers and worse the damnable cell phones that
know where you are and reinforced by 80 per cent of masses who believe what Big DC and controlled media tells them.WAR IS Peace Peace is War as the last empire strives to seize world control with bases in 80. countries. 1984 Is here.
hurr burr the jews are coming to steal my testicles
One thing that I always thought was low-key the most disturbing aspect of the Party was that there didn't seem to be a specific "leader" at the top of the pyramid. We know the country is ruled by the "Inner Party" (more or less), but there doesn't seem to be any specific person actually directing anything. Big Brother is, or at least is heavily implied to be, a myth of sorts. There are probably committees and sub-committees running their specific slice of the system and creating or maintaining specific rules and regulations, but there's no "supreme chairmen" or "politburo" or "ruling council" actually holding power, just that top two percent (which, in absolute terms, is probably hundreds of thousands or millions of people) carrying on out of sheer inertia. There is no "head" to attack, no real leadership to overthrow, just a vast, self-sustaining machine that can never really be cast down or fought against. Fighting against the Party isn't like fighting a government, it's like trying to fight a wave or typhoon or some other vast, unthinking and unfeeling force of the natural world...
Well they do claim to be socialist so there should be no defacto leader as true socialism would mean all men being equal, any leader would have to be either a figurehead (like Big Brother), a vanguard (like Lenin "We rule only until the machines of government can be given to the people", Stalin conveniently forgot this bit when Lenin died) or an entire party (like the CCP after Mao's death. Until Deng Xiaoping decided China should have a leader after all and he should be the next one.)
By having a figurehead instead of a real person it does suggest that Ingsoc are committed to socialism, or at least want the proles to believe that they are, though as we've seen over the past century with the likes of Stalin and Deng socialist regimes often become dictatorships for any man ambitious enough to grab for power, so I wouldn't be surprised if 'Big Brother' is just a face to keep the proles happy while the 15% of the population that belong to the party have a real human leader that is unknown to the proles.
Civil service?
Real life doesn't work like that though. If there really was a power vacuum at the top whatever top military commander would stage a coup and fill that in, as happens in real life in nations in which the central president or leader or prime minister is absent. A committee can't keep a large nation together without military backing.
Deep state
There are no regulations there are no rules, only the thought police. Like it says in the book if the rules were made known the party’s hypocrisy would be laid bare. You are just supposed to know.
1984 is more relevant now than it has ever been. It’s comforting to know that it is still finding its way into the hands of modern generations, it means that there is still hope for the future.
Not more relevant than when written, it's original title being 1948 for a reason (objected to by the publishers)
Not really. The problems facing society today are very different from those in the book.
@@r31n0ut really? no one is trying to re-write the past? No one is using double speak? Media isn't being used as a tool of the government? We're just building up to the 3rd world war.
Nah it’s always been there like in the 80s when Reagan gave weapon to the taliban and the news said bin laden fighting for freedom we all know what they actually fought for now the only place 1984 is more relevant is Russia and china because the government there had gotten more authoritarian
@@r31n0ut no they aren’t mate
To quote Asimov’s review of 1984.
“Orwell had no feel for the future,
and the displacement of the story is much more geographical than temporal.
The London in which the story is placed is not so much moved thirty-five
years forward in time, from 1949 to 1984, as it is moved a thousand miles
east in space to Moscow.”
He's saying that Oceania is more like the Soviet Union? Makes sense
Yes, the novel is primarily inspired by Soviet style socialism.
I guess he’s saying that this stuff was going on at the time already?
But 1984 isn't about the future. Its about the present.
A strange criticism that someone didn't do what they did not seek to do...
@@Blacksmith__except Orwell never once visited the Soviet Union. He was a whiny little bitch about his side losing an internal power struggle, and decided to sell out to the CIA/MI6 with his writings, only to then get all his friends arrested for holding the same political views he did.
"the party uses censorship and propaganda to an unimaginably degree" it's not only imaginable, it's relatable.
It's relatable in the same sense that having unlimited access and control over all the world's resources is relatable to someone with a dollar's worth in their pocket. Perhaps a tad more, unfortunately.
Just like the Nazi propaganda machine, the Kremlin's present propaganda and the GOPs war on truth and freedom.
Where do you live?
Cancel Culture is thriving as some get upset about M&Ms not be sexy enough or crying about the Barbie movie
It's happening.
the fact that im reading this book and i haven't looked it up, yet i get this recommendation shows that big brother is always listening
lol
I love big brother. I never would have found sub sub or blue karma if he wasnt watching and listening
And that one album by snowpoint lounge👌
@@BEHEMONAUT you will never find yourself
All the time. Every time. It happens to me a lot. I say the algorithm is always listening
I read this book as a teenager, and again in my thirty’s. The movie with John Hurt and Richard Burton was very faithful to Orwells vision. I meet people who’ve never been exposed to Victory Gin, or doublethink, and I feel sorry for them.
THEY THINK 'BIG BROTHER' IS A long form game show! SAD!
Very true - I read it as a teenager myself, and it has stayed with me ever since.
@@iana6713 Me too!
If we didn't already live in a precursor world to ''1984'', this book would be required reading in every school in the country. And yet it's not. I saw the original 1950s movie, when I was a teenager, and shortly after read the book. Both the book and the movie depressed me, and open my eyes to politics. The later version of the movie with Richard Burton was a much glossier version of the first movie, but more accurate to the book.
We have to fight back and not let it happen,in UK now it's quite scary what is actually happening now.
It was super interesting to see how many parallels were present in We Happy Few. I just wish they had more funding for some minor tweeks to make the game that much better.
Just ignore what you see and take your -adderall- Joy, and report any dissidents to the -social workers- bobbies.
@@theguybehindyou4762 sorry, no, there is no comparing Joy and Adderall, and do you even know what most social workers do or how they are paid?
It's amazing how much ignorance can be packed into so few words.
@@xBINARYGODx He created the statement as a joke, it should be taken as just that, a joke.
@@qinjiwei5058 Ah but the flak is thickest when one is over the target. 😉
agree theres always that
In Orwell's final interview he warned "Don't let it happen, it's up to you "
One of my favorite novels of all time, even ignoring its message, the way it's written from a possibly warped perspective and the world building is really good and unlike any other novel i ever read
That writing style is called unreliable narrator. This form was used in the book American Psycho but definingly not as well as 1984. Unreliable Narrator where you read a first person perspective story where the Narrator is confused whether the events happening around him/her is real.
1984 is subtly the most horrifying book ever made. Humanity could literally be trapped within a prison of its own creation with almost no hope of escape, it’s like a society wide Lou Garricks disease. Conscious but no way to take action, that is horrifying.
1984 could be real if we are not careful with AI (It would be a risk of being a singularity and took over the world)
@@maestro-zq8gu lol, subtly. Hey, I was just trying out new speak… Do you want to get disappeared because this is how you get disappeared
@@chargeminecraft that sounds more along the lines of i have no mouth and i must scream with AM though
You best start believing in cyberpunk dystopias - because you're in one.
FFS. Just look at the authoritarianism and massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich we witnessed during Covid!
While we're forced to wear masks, take jabs, and isolate - the rich and famous are partying at Obamas birthday and the Oscars free of any restrictions.
idk what you mean by subtle there's nothing subtle about it, it's in-your-face pure evil
This is crazy. Everyone seems to be discussing 1984 lately. I guess we can't pretend we aren't getting super close to the reality Orwell envisioned
I noticed that too.
Not “envisioned,” but was screaming a warning of.
Wokism and globalism pushed us here and that’s pushed by the wef. Big brother.
well no, it's more that the Far Right Wing Nuts "Quote" and missuse of 1984, but they either never read or watched it at all or did not understood it when they try to bad mouth "anything woke" like not beeing a racist and use something as slur or gendering is "doublethink" and nuspeak for them.
And then they unironicly claim that Immigrants are Lazy and Steal all the Jobs
But it's far from a discussion
@@fightforaglobalfirstamendm5617 Id argue the right is pushing for a dystopia lol
I love that last quote and how it contradicts the Big Brother posters. While there's always a 'boot stamping on a human face forever', BB's face still sticks to the street walls as the only human who is free, and he doesn't need to be a living human
I always had a thought that the party would fall eventually, no matter what; its desire for control and wanting to restructure everything would be its own undoing. Either it becomes way too rigid in its ways that a single blow wpuld shatter the whole thing in one fell swoop or that it becomes too comfortable with its place at the top that the slightest wind knocks it over. Nothing lasts forever
It's like the problem with DNA and cell replication.
A copy of a copy of a copy.
A mistake of a mistake of a mistake eventually kills an authoritarian.
Eventually the constant warfare will deplete all natural resources. It can't last forever.
Fascists always end up with smaller and smaller circles as they cannibalize each other until it all falls to pieces.
The book ends with the appendix and index.
You find out the book is written by a historian post 2050. The systems had failed, the proles took over because the party couldn't even understand them. All of the art and history the party tried to destroy was saved. People were free. Look it up.
There would always be a resistance movement in the shadows as the old people who remember a time before the regime came to power and the rebellious nature of kids wanting their own identity would seek guidance eventually listening to the older generation.
yeah sure a large portion would still get brainwashed but the few that would listen to the older people would keep those thoughts, ideas etc with them for their whole lives eventually even after the old generation dies these people despite not knowing what it was like would want what was told to them.
telling their kids about it the resistance would shrink at first but then grow eventually after a few decades a resistance movement would burst out of control for the authorities and the regime collapses. It’s a never ending struggle against truth seeking democracy and propaganda authoritarianism.
Can I make one correction. Winston Smith was broken, utterly, but he wasn't placed back into society just as a supporter. He was a symbol of the power of Big Brother, that noone can resist. As such, he was given a visible role (for an outer party member). However, this was always temporary. The last line of the book pretty much says Winston was executed by the party, with his last thought being love for Big Brother, a testiment to how utter his destruction was.
Obrien already said he was gonna execute him
@clydedoris5002 yeah, and this is the thing. Other depictions of dystopia have the protagonist 'win' in some way V in V for Vendetta, John Preston in Equilibrium, etc. But Winstom loses, first mind, then body.
@@clydedoris5002O’Brien implied it but never confirmed it. He also implied that Winston could possibly be given the chance to live a full rest of his life
@@AllegiancyNo, not really. He flat-out tells Winston that he will not be spared, because no one is ever spared, but goes on to say that even if he were allowed to go on and live a full life, it wouldn’t matter, because he would never be the same.
Not necessarily. It can be a psychological death of Winston Smith. His death is up to interpretation, but I read it as the death of Winston’s individualism.
““He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain.
He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
The top paragraph is actually incomplete, but it says that Winston is CURRENTLY sitting at the cafe reminiscing in his mind about the hallway, not the other way around.
18:30 "no enjoyment of the process of life"
Seeing how the world is turning to 1984, that ending quote is hella accurate
this book shook me to my core. the only conceivable thing more frightening than the unknown is having your very person changed/ altered into an unrecognizable state. truly bone chilling
I read the book, but this put a more dark spin on it than I had expected.
Credit to George Orwell! What a great philosophic writer!
Really?
This glossed over so much. The book goes into the reality of living like this. And it's lopelessly dark.
As an aside, I interpreted the ending as Winston was unpersoned as would be expected for his treachery.
In a similar vein, V for Vendetta comes to mind; I know the film is relatively well known, but I’m not so sure about the literature.
A number of video game series have shockingly deep lore, which might be worth exploring.
Appreciate the new content in addition to the old, for sure.
Even Andor had more of a 1984 feel than usual Star Wars! Karis' diary feels a lot like the book Winston reads in the novel!
There are lots of similarities between Big Brother and Norsefire
Comics only twelve issues super quick read.I th8nk the movies actually pretty faithful
Think
I only read the book, haven’t seen the film. But I found it incredible. My favorite book by far. Great vid ecks!
Me too! The movie isn't great, I recall seeing it but that was many years ago. May revisit but I do love listening to the audiobook, the one published by Blackstone Audio (May, 2007) and read by Simon Pebble is fantastic.
@@michaelandreipalon359 yeah I think so but I’ll see both films just to complete the “journey”
The movie has a great soundtrack. It is a poor rendition of the book, but it is an ok film by itself.
The movie is not that good?
This book changed my perception of the world entirely. Taught me to question things, reassess information and try to figure out ulterior motives
Good that this book is being discussed considering that once upon a time it was required reading...and now it's banned in a lot of schools, same as Fahrenheit 451. Scary that considering the plots of both books
EDIT: 19 May 2023 - Wow, lots of discussion which is always good....that being said....I first heard about these books being banned when talking with my sister a year or three ago ( her kid was getting on in school ) ...I was surprised and did some light poking online ( google, etc ). I didn't do an exhaustive investigation, or compile a 500 page report or make my own hour long youtube vid about the subject.
A lot of schools doesn't mean all schools, or most schools, just that apparently there are more than a few that it's banned in and/or discussion of them being banned in. I certainly never said it was all schools or most schools. Hell I'm not sure why they would be banned or are banned. Someone apparently thinks I have an agenda and I'm not sure where they got that idea...
I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 and loved it! Why is it banned?
@@matrix-5466 Oi there, I think you've had a little bit too much to think!
@@matrix-5466 I actually don't know myself, my sister has a kid going into school and it came up in conversation how the two books, which when we both went to school were required reading, were now banned.
The banning of books pisses me off to no end. In some cases it’s understandable(looking at you, Mein Kampf), but in most it’s just the overused tool of a bunch of soccer moms and old fuddy duddies who hate fun and haven’t laughed since the fucking renaissance.
Neither of these books are banned
Awesome vid. Orwell literally told us and we still act surprised. Thanks.
And GK Chesterton told us where things were going 50 years earlier. Interestingly, Orwell wrote for GK’s weekly from time to time.
Although Orwell wrote that the population would be under constant scrutiny. He didn’t envision that the population would also have the ability to constantly monitor the Government. Sadly even though, like BLM, where the proles have actual video of Government brutality a lot of the proles and outer party still think Big Brother can do no wrong.
You guys act surprised and scared, not me.
The number of people who take this with such factual zeal is genuinely astounding. A true work of art.
?
Such a heartbreaking book. At the end Winston is walking around and passes Julia on his way to the bar and they don't even acknowledge one another. He then sits in the bar, loving the state, completely broken, sipping on disgusting gin. The house always wins and we are all doomed. Maybe one day humanity will get it right, but not in Winston's or our story. I pray for the quick and painless demise of humanity....we are led by corrupt incompetent leaders. We were all meant for more than this.
The funny thing is that the corruption and incompetence is precisely what prevented the 1984 scenario from fully taking place, even in the USSR or China. In the end the elites were more interested in corruption than the sheer exercise of power. North Korea is probably the closest, with the Eternal President taking the place of Big Brother.
Go ahead, u leave first
@@sosadagod6963 huh?
@@sosadagod6963how about we all go out together
@@sosadagod6963 You do realise that the inevitability of your torture by the government is no less than that of this person, right?
Those in power are 60-80 years old, they will die in 20-30 years. You will not die. They will try to kill you before they die.
Regardless of who you are a totalitarian government will affect your life drastically.
I periodically listen to the audiobook at work and it consistently blows my mind with just how much like 1984 the current political age is. Too many similarities.
that seems like a bit of an over-exaggeration. i don't see people getting publicly hanged for saying something, but i suppose i'm lucky to not live in a dictatorship.
Orwell was a visonary! He sent us this book as a WARNING, & how to AVOID such an exaggerated political outcome!
@@pete531 M+F=T!
@@manboy4720you’re seeing it, it’s just not the literal interpretation. People being arrested for Facebook posts. People banned from the digital public square. Pastors arrested for praying in proximity to abortion centers. Etc…. The idea of cancellation and erasure of people’s presence from society is in a figurative sense an allegory for hanging. It reaches the same goal, suppress those that exhibit wrong think.
I see doublethink everywhere, especially in the media and politics. Its as plain as day and people happily go though the mental exercise to internalize it and accept it just like in the book. Its automatic and natural for them too
Like it when you branch out and this one is very timely.
Please do more.
Loved this man, awesome content, I enjoy star wars but I definitely look forward to you branching out the future
I really feel like North Korea is the embodiment of 1984. The more you look into the government and society the scarier it gets.
Look for examples of this closer to home. North Korea might be a text book example, but things are often on a scale and we have moved on to a more complex society since 1948 when George wrote the book.
Nowadays you could add Cuba and Venezuela, although both countries military power is mediocre at best compared to North Korea's which is already debatable besides the "we've got nukes" argument.
@@123456gordon Cuba and Venezuela are no where close to North Korea lol. Bad comparison.
@@AsymmetricalCrimes In which regard? Communist totalitarian countries blaming everything on others, there's only one political party holding the absolute truth, people are starving left right and center. The only major difference I see is their mediocre militaries as I've mentioned, thus not being able to truly threat anyone but themselves.
@@123456gordon Cuba and Venezuela's governments don't have a monopoly on truth in the same way North Korea does. North Koreans believe East Germany still exist. That's the level of control we're talking about.
Cuba and Venezuela still allow outside influence, hell the U.S. has embassies in both countries. Outside news is still allowed in both countries, and the people have cell phones that let them record things like protests. Have you ever seen a protest in North Korea?
We just finished reading this book and highschool and I feel like I’ve been seeing 1984 everywhere and I thought to myself, “I’m probably only just starting to notice it now and it’s probably already been everywhere I just hadn’t realized” and then you drop this video. That’s crazy
It feels good to wake up. Nah just kidding, it’s pretty hard waking up sometimes, but hey, at least we know now.
Always tend to like your Star Wars content and I started watching when you used to do the ship breakdowns and various comparisons but is cool to see you branch into lesser known lores. I wonder if you would ever do a video or review of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's Long Earth series from the 2010's. If you've never heard of it it is a very good sci-fi multiEarth series from a couple of great authors.
Brave New World is a must as a follow up to this video. I really appreciate these longer, intriguing videos!
I like all kinds of older/classic sci fi and would watch longer videos on the subject if you made them.
I never thought I would see this channel make a video on 1984, but I absolutely love it
I actually read the capitalistic version of 1984 in middle school. The book is called "Feed" (named after the computers people had in their heads) and it was quite good! Highly recommend it
Feed was great, My English teacher junior year let me read it. It wasn't part of the curriculum
Thank you for the book suggestion.
1984 has anti-capitalist sentiments throughout, it functions as a warning for socialists not to let their ideology slip into authoritarianism like the Soviets did. Orwell was a communist.
What do you mean by capitalistic version???
@@aurelien5747 1984 is considered a socialist totalitarian regime. Feed is considered a capitalist totalitarian regime.
Feed is the capitalist version of 1984, and 1984 is the socialist version of Feed.
We are here. Don't get caught experiencing wrong thought.
Womp womp.
It is pretty depressing to see how close to this we are now. We are certainly drifting in that direction.
Surprised I'm not seeing more comments like this, but you're absolutely 100% right, and it's been drifting further that way since basically 9/11. Not that the government hasn't always spied on it's own citizens are created falsehoods to justify endless wars or anything, but more to the fact technology has advanced so much since the early 2000s to the point now everyone carries a phone in their pocket and said phone is always listening/watching them, as is social media in general, which essentially act as social-engineering platforms to sway public opinion and also act as a international database where naive and foolish people put all their personal information online for the world to see.
Privacy and liberties are becoming a thing of the past as people blindly and willingly accept all the BS the government forces on them. People now are more depressed than ever, unhealthier as ever, demoralized into believing nonsense like "50 genders exist" and other falsehoods and ridiculousness...There's still a lot of people like you and I who are awake to it, but people like us are routinely censored and demonized as "conspiracy theorists" by the powers that be.
Its all thanks to anti-capitalists. Anti-free-marketists. People who do not want anyone to own anything, so they can have what they cant afford, because they are either too lazy to acquire these possessions themselves or too stupid to obtain the jobs to afford such things. The only people shouting for communism/socialism are broke teenagers that want their neighbors Ferrari without buying their own. Free markets are a beautiful thing. Capitalism creates beautiful inventions. Capitalism literally started the industrial revolution and helped create all the modern technology you use today. Without capitalism, the world would still look like the early 1700's. There would be no TH-cam. No Google. No smartphones.
Its hilarious that people want to regress society back to the times of peasants and kings just like 1984. Communism is literally Monarchy without a king. Its just poor people growing crops for their leader. Its slavery.
Just the opposite it's more difficult to surpress information than in the past due to social media
You are so right and if the orange devil incarnate gains control of the White House you can say goodbye to freedom. He wants to make America an authoritarian state. Beware the man in sheep’s clothing. 🐑
No we aren’t. The world of 1984, as Orwell had stated, is hyperbole and a parody of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.
I think you nailed one of the major themes of the book, that objective truth and freedom are fundamentally linked. Which is why the enlightenment ideals that founded Western democracies were obsessed with objectivity: “We hold these truths to be self evident…”
Holding something to be self evident is not the same as objectivity. In fact such assumptions - when latched on to religiously - can (or will) close you off from seeing the world as it really is.
Unfortunately there are a lot of people trying to rewrite bits of history to fit their worldview better.
Freedom for white men was self evident, anyone else not quite so.
you're holding the United States' declaration of independence in too high regard. Most modern western democracies are built as delegations of power to an elected few. They're not based on the will of the people and objective truth, but rather a delegation of a function of ruling to people selected via popularity and not competence, that made a career based on ruling a society.
Except if you were black
I started watching ur hockey channel and absolutely loved it. The fact that I am finding another one of ur channels with a whole another subject I find enjoyment in speaks volumes of ur diversity of thought. Cant wait to keep watching
What George Carlin referred to as the soft language that we use today, is actually a variation on Newspeak. You hear it every day on news broadcasts. The words are chosen very carefully to convey the emotional response that is desired. Just listen carefully to a news broadcast and you'll see hopefully the words are selected. A good example of perhaps the most Orwellian phrase to enter our current language is, '' If you see something, say something!'' it encourages people to denounce each other to the government.
Agreed. I ain’t a snitch and I never will be, luckily, (nearly) everyone else in my area shares the same sentiment as me. I’m not in a libtard zone, yet.
@wolfetteplays8894 how far are you willing to go on the "no snitching" "rule"?
I love the breath of fresh air, hay I am a Star Wars nerd threw and threw but seeing you doing different subjects but putting your Eckharts charm to it bings it together amazingly. Love it!
Love that eck decided to go out from his norm, love him as a speaker but contrast keeps things new!
Nice too see that this book is still being analysed
Both the book and film are just soul crushing man.
17:08 personally that is my favorite theory that oceania is only the british island and a bit of irland maybe they are fighting the irish resistance instead of the imaginary east asia or eurasia, and the rest of the world is practically the same as in our timeline maybe after the cold war the united nation might have to intervere i wonder what happened if the invasion scenario comes to place and what is the aftermath
It's certainly possible based on what we learned from the novel. It's at least a bit more hopeful!
@@EckhartsLadder well the mass histeria of knowing the truth would be so great that the un would send an army of therapist first before the food and medicine
As for the Euraisn/Eastasians being paraided. Either they are foreign paid actors or tourists.
@@michaelarsaadyatma Or will just leave the country to its own devices, just supplying it with enough aid to prevent the total collapse of the country.
@@misterjei yea the mass histeria could become mass depression and probably mass suicide, aaaand they probably kidnap foreigner probably jounalist and actifist and claimed that they are eurasian and east asian spy/soldier
Here's some doublethink:
1) Illinois is the safest state to live in due to gun control.
2) The reason Chicago is so violent is because they get guns from other states.
Here's one too.
1) g3nd3r roles are 53x!5t and oppressive.
2) m3n must be chivalrous gentlem3n to vv0m3n.
Here’s another one
1)No uterus no opinion
2)Trans women are real women🤡
What?
@@mr.midnight1997 why are you censoring gender related words
@@Zordyn I have to because of youtube.
The worst part is there is a Huge possiblity that Eurasia is entirely lying and there is an entirely differentiated world outside of The oceanias Airstrip one
Ikr I think it's just England who thinks this way and the party took control after a global nuclear war that nearly killed off humanity allowing the party to easly take control and manipulate events so much that not even the last generations can remember correctly even if they lived it
@@thecalmclone2813 Agreed there is a huge margin of probability that the whole oceania is an extremely isolated hermit state
@@thedoruk6324 Welcome to Glorious True Korea where our God Emperor can literally fly and has never shit or pissed in the entirety of his life
When the book was written most of the world was still governed by massive empires, so the setting shown is probably accurate. North Korea wasn’t some weird anomaly, and hadn’t really become much of a thing yet beyond the half of Korea overseen by the Soviets. Stalin’s empire, however, was a big deal.
Came across this by chance, and I really enjoyed it, brilliant break down of 1984
OMG, is this a 1984 Reference?!
Yes, yes indeed.
I’ve been watching your hockey channel for the past few months and had absolutely no idea you had another channel this is jawdropping
I loved the video and especially the segment on doublethink. Not too many people focus on it and the implications of INGSOC creating doublethink. Could you cover Fahrenheit 451 next?
We do live in a modern version of 1984.
We are removing words from the spoken language. We change facts and suppress "wrong" opinions. We have devices around us that always listen and film. Instead of books we have the Internet where you can change everything, history of facts, with the push of a button.
Yep, just look at many American states where they are banning using words like gay and trans in schools.
@@emmastrange5557I’m assuming you’re talking about Florida, where that’s simply not happening. Go read the bill that you’re referencing; it prevents teachers from discussing all sexual material to young children in classrooms.
You yourself have fallen victim to propaganda.
@@channingtaintum you know that's worse, right?
@@channingtaintum They're removing all books from school libraries. if that's not dystopian, I don't know what is.
@@ZaoMedong- That's simply a lie. They are not "removing all books" from school libraries.
There are a few things i think is most valuable to learn from 1984. One is that controlling words, does controlling minds. There are studies into how expanded vocabulary expands the ability to critical think, and vice versa. Also, that we associate emotional value to words, so when you redefine the word, or change the word (even if it means the same thing) you can get people to change their opinion. My go to example is colored people and people of color. They mean the same thing but carry different emotional loads for people.
My 2nd big take away from this book was double think, which is a diabolical and fascinating topic. Because when someone believes contradictory ideas, when one is challenged they can retreat to the other. Additionally when onto confrontation it creates large cognitive dissonance, and since most people cant handle it, or afraid to face the dissonance they instead turn their mind off and dont engage the critique thus further locking themselves in the mental trap. Their thinking becomes their prison.
I have come to the conclusion that many people who practice "double think" only do so for the public.
They, in reality, want the think you are criticizing them for wanting. However, they need an excuse to cloak their ill intentions.
From WMDs to banning heterodox speakers at Universities by claiming their speech is "dangerous".
[Sighs] Lying, it takes 2 to tango. One to speak the lie, the other to believe it.
Yes, it is cognitive dissonance.
Political correctness.
@@raymond_luxury_yacht It's WAY beyond that! PC is more enforced 'politeness', wokeness goes FAR beyond!
@@raymond_luxury_yacht Republicans love pushing their Cancel Culture. You seem confused. Look at how they send death threats to employees at Target or hospitals because they don't fit their Republican agenda.
Another book with similar themes that I'd like to see covered would be Brave New World. It's one of my favorites
There is a difference between 1984 and Brave New World.
@Mr.CombatX13 Oh, most definitely, I get that. 1984 is definitely more authoritarian, while BNW has an illusion of freedom, for instance
@@CptNick419 you are correct on that.
It was published in 1948. Had it been published in 1947 it would have been called "1974."
Orwell wrote it as satire rather than a warning because the "Cold War" was in its infancy. He wasn't saying it would or wouldn't happen, just that it was a possibility. An immense work that everyone should read. It's typical Orwell and naturally depressing because of the subject matter...
The older I get the more soul chilling this book becomes. Since it is grounded in the reality of human perversities it is one of the most believable dystopias ever conceived.
Well this was not a video I expected to see on my subscriptions. Even more when I see it's uploaded by ekhearts.
Yeah exactly
Love that "Half Life 2" (2004) videogame is most likely based on this, which is still discussed today as is the book
The vast majority of people have never heard of the game
@@lopoa126 Lol it's one of the most popular games of all time
I guess for under 20 year olds
Zoom zoom
More people need to read this book...
Make it required reading in high school or something.
People in High School have read 1984 - me included.
@@quicke5486 me too
@Quicke not in my highschool
@D Dd that’s a bad conspiracy theory, I have a good one, Elon Musk is secretly planning to take over the world.
We read both 1984 and Animal Farm in HS.
Orwell got the name wrong, its not 1984....it was supposed to be 2024
Power is habit forming, those who have it always crave more. Those who stand to lose it always lash out.
I like to think about power in social systems like mass in physical systems. In classical mechanics, mass seeks itself via gravity - in the same way, power seeks itself in political mechanics, and concentration of power is an undercurrent that powers much of history.
Unfortunately, if you extend that analogy further, physical systems (i.e. astral bodies, orbital interaction) tend to be most stable when there's a strict hierarchy of bodies (i.e. when most areas are gravitationally dominated by as few bodies as possible). Stagnant, but stable.
@@henryptunghaha, found the thought police. Your message is literally supporting elitism. Hey bro guess what, this ain’t a story in a book, and this is real life. You lost from day one.
@@treheron I'm not supporting hierarchical systems, I'm just observing one tendency that produces them. Concentration of power can and has been counteracted (checks and balances in government systems are specifically about this), but it has to be done consciously and persistently, and people will continue to find ways to circumvent those checks over time (e.g. parallel hierarchies in political parties, external control via financial means, etc.) if vigilance isn't maintained.
Dynamic stability is very achievable - the JWST is parked at an unstable Lagrange point and will be for decades to come - but it's not automatic and requires strict and regular maintenance. That's the point I'm getting at - vigilance and active correction is critical to such systems, and it _will_ fall apart if you get lazy about it.
@@henryptung “Physical systems tend to be most stable when there’s a strict hierarchy of bodies (dominated by as few bodies as possible.)” paraphrased a bit, but you get the point. My only response to you, is if this system of hierarchy is more stable than others, then why has history shown that every time there’s a disproportionate amount of power, given to the elite few, with the working class getting poorer and poorer. It’s not stable, it doesn’t work, everytime there’s been a tyrannical government they’ve always gotten overthrown. This will happen to the end of time, until people stop being greedy. Until, I, stop being greedy.
@@treheron
> everytime there’s been a tyrannical government they’ve always gotten overthrown.
Except for the ones that are currently in place - North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China, etc. You can look at the Economist Democracy Index if you want a general idea of how much of the world is/isn't democratically governed.
And yes, dictatorships will also age and die over time (eventually, effective rulers will be replaced by ineffective successors, old structures will fail to adapt to new conditions, and challengers will usurp their rivals) but more often than not, it ends up being replaced by another dictatorship.
Freedom is a precious and beautiful thing, but thinking that it's some kind of natural state that the world tends to automatically is little more than wishful ideology. It has to be crafted carefully and maintained with vigilance to last, or else backslide will occur.
And to be clear, even apparent "democracies" can be deeply flawed and unbalanced. Money and bribery can turn an entire government system into a farce, controlled externally by vast concentrations of wealth.
> This will happen to the end of time, until people stop being greedy.
Tyrannical systems form _because_ of limitless greed in people. Not sure what point you're trying to make here.
Didn't see eck doing this vid, but i'm not complaining
Other literature discussions:
th-cam.com/play/PLPcRSJDFb1llVkzIEjDp_mVhP2DveoW2-.html
Sup Eck, if you liked 1984 i will recommend Fahrenheit 451 0 including the much different remake movie.
40k fans: First time?
@@bigolbearthejammydodger6527 I liked the writing of 451 but thought a lot of it was kind of batshit. Especially, the contention that mass censorship came about because of "minorities and special interest groups" was pretty unsettling. Bradbury went on to say the America of the 1970s had essentially reached that stage because the gays got mad at him when he said homophobic things.
Literally 1984
@@danielkrohn4980 well im english, and literally living through censorship brought about with the excuse of protecting minorities and special interests.
1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451.
3 great books.
As someone form Colchester, UK. Its nice to get some literary attention......
There is so much of 1984 happening in 2023. This video comes up short.
This seems like the UK in 2024 😞
Do something about it, start speaking up. You don’t need a rebellion. You just need to USE. YOUR. VOICE. I know it sounds cliche, but you matter dude, more than you can ever know. So just be you.
@@treheronwell said, well said. Strive for peace first and foremost! Fight for peace if necessary.
@@bowbowjang4281 it wouldn’t be peace then, if you had to fight for it.
I almost can guarantee as a 19 year old that in my lifetime we will see something like this happen in the future
Fuck Big Brother.
I read the book a few years ago, but just getting this refresher sends a chill down my spine because I see aspects of it playing out in reality. Whenever I see that a word has been redefined or removed from an old class book I think of 1984.
a word redefined? how about those people removing books from schools and sometimes burning them, and getting overzealous about what even a parent might say to their kids?
@@xBINARYGODx yeah, Johnny the Walrus shouldn't be banned, parents should be allow to judge whether or not their kids can read it.
Now if we're talking about books about adult sex and nudity, then I'd say let's wait until those kids are teenagers before showing them that stuff.
I’d love to see you go over the Handmaid’s tale in a similar way you went over 1984 in this video
I found that book and Margret Atwood to be horribly overrated.
She's just another pseudointellectual socialite. She's very good at saying the fashionable things; doubt She'd every go against the grain.
If you want to find a good social critic - look for those who are shunned by the Elites and are comfortable with that.
Great book, great movie. I read the book first. It scares me how well some of the scenes replicated my imagination when reading the book. They really dug into the descriptions when they did the movie. Nice change Echarts from your usual content of Star Wars. I think you can do more content on this considering its politically relevant today.
I like to think, and have therefore interpreted in part, that 1984 teaches us to do one thing, above all: Question Your Government.
And, if you ask me, that's the most democratic and free thing I can think of, to question one's government and keep them attached to reality.
(Of course, your mileage may vary, but that's life, y'know?)
Amen. People always seem to try spin 1984 into a left vs right thing, a communism vs fascism thing. In reality it's a libertarian-ism vs authoritarian thing. Question your leaders no matter the ideology they serve, and keep yourself free.
What is that three pyramid shot at 0:38 from?
I would love to see you cover a book series called "Galaxy's Edge". It's by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. There's some cool battles and lore to cover.
This was very entertaining, great job!
Thank you very much for your kind worke and thanks! 💖
I mean… I think the divergence point is pretty clear: 1948, when Orwell wrote it. That’s why he titled it 1984. He just flipped the digits.
He was taking what he already saw in the UK in the truly awful immediate post-war period and trying to warn people about where he thought they were headed.
I think that the first image at 0:07 is from the original version [1954?] with Edmund O'Brien, Jan Sterling and Michael Redgrave.
Everyone is saying we live in 1984 but I feel like we are still very very very far from it. You can still call the president a piece of shit, but in the book, you wouldn’t be able to even comprehend the concept of criticizing Big Brother.
Interesting that when you read this you just think of some prison hellscape but when you watch a movie its just a community untrustful which is almost scarier given how you could make a video about our day to day lives in which we dont notice how crazy it is
The movies depiction of a dystopian society is SPOT ON.
While reading, I thought the worst thing to happen to Winston was him being killed. The actuating ending proved me wrong