Been rereading 1984; Orwell described the MAGA cult to a T, read this:

[HardPort]

Describing Parsons (who is later turned in for thoughtcrime by his own daughter):
"He was a fattish but active man of paralysing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms -- one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended."

Is that not the classic description of a Trumpinista?

Later, during Winston's torture, the evil party apparachik OBrien tells us how the party views are so close to the MAGA cultists:
"There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science."

[Samrob]

1. Nailed it!!! nt

[flying rabbit]

2. K&R. nt

[RockRaven]

3. I think the hate sessions really nail them too.

[cadoman]

8. 2 minutes of hate -- how is that not Tucker Carlson & conservative radio propagandists? [nt]

[calimary]

4. Kinda creepy.

[Deuxcents]

5. I read this maybe in High school

Just for credits. Then..I read it again many years later n it wasn’t until maybe much later when I could really grasp it.. I think of this piece of work often these days.. especially in the last 5 years. It’s damn scary as events these days are so parallel. Damn scary.

[Joinfortmill]

6. 👍

[kimbutgar]

7. I read it in college but I couldn't reread it now because it's kind of coming true scarily.

Last edited Sun Feb 13, 2022, 01:08 AM - Edit history (1)

[Takket]

9. And East Asia isn't some phantom far off power. It is people like you and me

[Silent3]

10. "We have always been at war with Eastasia"

When I read 1984 in high school this was one of the toughest things to imagine as realistic. That you could bring people to such a frenzy of anger, suddenly switch who that anger was supposed to be directed against, and gaslight them all into going along with the change.

But right wing media has shown us how that can be done. They don't even have to alter all records of the past, as the Ministry of Truth did. People will simply believe the changes made in their self-imposed echo chamber, willingly.

Since Trump it has gotten much worse. Following Trump requires willfully swallowing impossible contradictions and enormous hypocrisy.

"We have always been at war with Eastasia" echoes through my mind often these days.