You are here: Home > Message Board > General Talk > 1984 society,....today
March 29 2024 1.44am

1984 society,....today

Previous Topic | Next Topic


Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 > Last >>

 

View Forest Hillbilly's Profile Forest Hillbilly Flag in a hidey-hole 18 Jan 22 1.12pm Send a Private Message to Forest Hillbilly Add Forest Hillbilly as a friend

OK, I re-read the book as an adult last year, having read it in my teens at school (in 1984)
A great many topics came to my mind in Orwell/Blair's masterpiece. Near the end, it was a tear-jerking catastrophic romance (comparable to my own love-life).
The structure of society was overwhelming. The level of control formidable, underlain by NEWSPEAK language.
"Freedom is Slavery" comes to the forefront. Everything we take as giving us freedom, is ultimately making us slaves. Computers with their ISP address, mobile phones capable of tracking our movements, CCTV everywhere. Democracy is an illusion. New Covid restrictions seeking to identify unvaccinated people. New police powers (to stop demonstrations) being mooted and magistrates (today) given additional sentencing powers.
And where do i get my information ? the usual news websites, BBC, Yahoo, etc. So shouldn't I be conformist ?
And with all the monitoring and CCTV, why are there so many 'successful' terrorist atrocities ?
"War is Peace" akin to 'freedom is slavery' in that the phrase seems contradictory. The doublespeak meaning is that a constant (threat of) war against the population keeps them subdued/jingoistic and keeps thoughts away from important issues of Governance.
Another extrapolated meaning, might yet mean that to acquire the monetary wealth to achieve personal ambitions, you must conform to the working environment and the 'mission statement' of your employer.

Ahh, too much time on my hands, with all this Covid and zero-hours contract I'm on.
Another no-response thread from Forest. Perhaps I should stick to lavatory photos and humour.

 


"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Slimey Toad's Profile Slimey Toad Flag Karsiyaka, North Cyprus 18 Jan 22 1.37pm Send a Private Message to Slimey Toad Add Slimey Toad as a friend

I'll respond. You are so right about technology. Before the mid 90s when it all started I was really a book glutton. These days I look at my extensive library and occasionally dip in but always have 'must check up on FB, emails, You Tube, Holmesdale.net etc. etc.' at the back of my mind.

John Cooper Clarke said a few years ago that he won't get online because the wouldn't get off it. It's an instant answer to questions without having to do any leg work.

Which is of course a good thing, but it is also a bad thing in terms of personal enrichment.

Edited by Slimey Toad (18 Jan 2022 1.38pm)

 

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Palace Old Geezer's Profile Palace Old Geezer Flag Midhurst 18 Jan 22 1.46pm Send a Private Message to Palace Old Geezer Add Palace Old Geezer as a friend

I go along with your thinking on this issue Hillbilly. My wife and I frequently comment about how spooky Orwell's book was. I've got a copy somewhere, but couldn't find it when I looked just now (reflects the state of my bookshelves I'm afraid).

So many of his ideas have come to fruition, or close to it, these days. And it was first published in 1949! We live in something like a Police State with so much surveillance and general awareness of almost everything we do.

The Covid restrictions, necessary as they were, seemed to exacerbate the feeling that we were put under government control. There's a film called Logan's Run about a place where an idyllic, hedonistic lifestyle ends when you reach the age of 30. If you're wise you make a run for it because the alternative is mysteriously unpleasant. Another example of lives being controlled by the State. Spooky.

 


Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View eagleman13's Profile eagleman13 Flag On The Road To Hell & Alicante 18 Jan 22 2.33pm Send a Private Message to eagleman13 Holmesdale Online Elite Member Add eagleman13 as a friend

Originally posted by Palace Old Geezer

I go along with your thinking on this issue Hillbilly. My wife and I frequently comment about how spooky Orwell's book was. I've got a copy somewhere, but couldn't find it when I looked just now (reflects the state of my bookshelves I'm afraid).

So many of his ideas have come to fruition, or close to it, these days. And it was first published in 1949! We live in something like a Police State with so much surveillance and general awareness of almost everything we do.

The Covid restrictions, necessary as they were, seemed to exacerbate the feeling that we were put under government control. There's a film called Logan's Run about a place where an idyllic, hedonistic lifestyle ends when you reach the age of 30. If you're wise you make a run for it because the alternative is mysteriously unpleasant. Another example of lives being controlled by the State. Spooky.

Great film, Micheal York, Peter Ustinov, Jenny Agutter & if i remember correctly, Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Where they had their controlling 'chip' in the palm of their hand. Another film on a similar vein was 'Soylent Green' with Charlton Heston.

Anyhoo, 1984 as a peep into the future, is approx 40 years early but, still relevant seeing as what controls are in place to govern/control our lives.

 


I'm a blind man, i'm a blind man, now my room is cold,
When a blind man cries, Lord, he feels it from his soul.
[Link]

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Forest Hillbilly's Profile Forest Hillbilly Flag in a hidey-hole 18 Jan 22 2.52pm Send a Private Message to Forest Hillbilly Add Forest Hillbilly as a friend

Another facet is the theory of "time compression". Modern technology was meant to give humans more free time. What it has actually done is make working longer hours a routine thing, and thus reducing human contact time. You work longer, do more work, and have less time to yourself.

 


"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Palace Old Geezer's Profile Palace Old Geezer Flag Midhurst 18 Jan 22 3.07pm Send a Private Message to Palace Old Geezer Add Palace Old Geezer as a friend

Originally posted by Forest Hillbilly

Another facet is the theory of "time compression". Modern technology was meant to give humans more free time. What it has actually done is make working longer hours a routine thing, and thus reducing human contact time. You work longer, do more work, and have less time to yourself.

You're on a roll now I can tell! Anything else we should feel gloomy about?

 


Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Forest Hillbilly's Profile Forest Hillbilly Flag in a hidey-hole 18 Jan 22 3.21pm Send a Private Message to Forest Hillbilly Add Forest Hillbilly as a friend

Originally posted by Palace Old Geezer

You're on a roll now I can tell! Anything else we should feel gloomy about?

The upsides include internet pron and 'working from home' with alcohol on expenses

Alcohol, it's not just for Government, it's for all the workers

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (18 Jan 2022 3.22pm)

 


"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Slimey Toad's Profile Slimey Toad Flag Karsiyaka, North Cyprus 18 Jan 22 3.25pm Send a Private Message to Slimey Toad Add Slimey Toad as a friend

You can also argue most people aren't bothered by having their online behaviour constantly monitored. It is invisible and you never will know your personal data has been sold and who to. It's not like someone has managed to physically pull back the net curtains of your living room, although the sites you have visited (you know the ones) may reveal more than what is going on on your front room carpet.

 

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View YT's Profile YT Flag Oxford 18 Jan 22 3.39pm Send a Private Message to YT Add YT as a friend

Nineteen Eighty-Four (to give it its correct title) wasn't at all prophetic. It was an allegory on totalitarian regimes that already existed.

 


Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View ASCPFC's Profile ASCPFC Flag Pro-Cathedral/caravan park 18 Jan 22 7.17pm Send a Private Message to ASCPFC Add ASCPFC as a friend

I heard it became a best seller again recently. I always liked Orwell, so thought at least a few more people have read his work. I don't think it's a bad thing for more people to question society somewhat.

 


Red and Blue Army!

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View Stirlingsays's Profile Stirlingsays Flag 18 Jan 22 7.37pm Send a Private Message to Stirlingsays Holmesdale Online Elite Member Add Stirlingsays as a friend

Originally posted by Forest Hillbilly

OK, I re-read the book as an adult last year, having read it in my teens at school (in 1984)
A great many topics came to my mind in Orwell/Blair's masterpiece. Near the end, it was a tear-jerking catastrophic romance (comparable to my own love-life).
The structure of society was overwhelming. The level of control formidable, underlain by NEWSPEAK language.
"Freedom is Slavery" comes to the forefront. Everything we take as giving us freedom, is ultimately making us slaves. Computers with their ISP address, mobile phones capable of tracking our movements, CCTV everywhere. Democracy is an illusion. New Covid restrictions seeking to identify unvaccinated people. New police powers (to stop demonstrations) being mooted and magistrates (today) given additional sentencing powers.
And where do i get my information ? the usual news websites, BBC, Yahoo, etc. So shouldn't I be conformist ?
And with all the monitoring and CCTV, why are there so many 'successful' terrorist atrocities ?
"War is Peace" akin to 'freedom is slavery' in that the phrase seems contradictory. The doublespeak meaning is that a constant (threat of) war against the population keeps them subdued/jingoistic and keeps thoughts away from important issues of Governance.
Another extrapolated meaning, might yet mean that to acquire the monetary wealth to achieve personal ambitions, you must conform to the working environment and the 'mission statement' of your employer.

Ahh, too much time on my hands, with all this Covid and zero-hours contract I'm on.
Another no-response thread from Forest. Perhaps I should stick to lavatory photos and humour.


A poignant thread on a topic and theme that many have observed over the years but which we have been powerless to stop.

We are powerless precisely because those that hold real power are only really interested in expanding it. Their ability to do that has been significantly aided by technology and the growing better ability to shape mass communication to the exclusion of alternatives.

The Internet has been a challenge to that but is slowly being turned into the same tool of control.

Capital runs the west....the party runs China. Wouldn't it be great if we could have a system where people had more power over their own lives.

 


'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply
View kingdowieonthewall's Profile kingdowieonthewall Flag Sussex, ex-Cronx. 18 Jan 22 8.24pm Send a Private Message to kingdowieonthewall Add kingdowieonthewall as a friend

'Soylent green' anyone?

 


Kids,tired of being bothered by your pesky parents?
Then leave home, get a job & pay your own bills, while you still know everything.

Alert Alert a moderator to this post Edit this post Quote this post in a reply

 

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 > Last >>

Previous Topic | Next Topic

You are here: Home > Message Board > General Talk > 1984 society,....today