{"id":17005,"date":"2017-06-15T08:48:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T12:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=17005"},"modified":"2017-06-15T08:48:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T12:48:30","slug":"government-surveillance-and-academic-thought-policing-are-taking-us-to-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2017\/06\/15\/government-surveillance-and-academic-thought-policing-are-taking-us-to-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Surveillance and Academic Thought Policing Are Taking Us to 1984"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Government Surveillance and Academic Thought Policing Are Taking Us to 1984<\/h2>\n

There are some books you should read only once, and others you should reread occasionally. George Orwell\u2019s 1984<\/em> is one you should read repeatedly and deeply. Without it, no education is complete.<\/p>\n

It tells the story of a man, Winston, grappling with ordinary desires for love and privacy \u2013 but in a totalitarian socialist world in which every word and even desire is subject to control and punishment by \u201cthe Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

1984<\/em> teaches timeless truths and shows its characters grappling with questions that do not have easy answers. The dystopia Orwell presents emerged out of the soil of a society in which little by little, inch by inch, thought by thought, and idea by idea, people forsook their liberty, their dignity, and their humanity.<\/p>\n

Parallels between the world of Orwell\u2019s 1984<\/em> and our own are increasingly obvious \u2013 and troubling.<\/p>\n

Surveillance and Thought Policing<\/strong><\/p>\n

For one thing, we live in an ever-growing \u201canti-terror\u201d surveillance state, and one that is encouraged, if not openly embraced, by fearful people who are, if I may be blunt, really bad at math and really lacking in perspective. Every death is a tragedy, but terrorism is far down on any list of mortality risks \u2013 and it always has been. And there is little evidence that all the surveillance and security programs added since 9\/11 have caught or prevented terrorists in any significant number.<\/p>\n

For another thing, on college campuses across the country, we are seeing disinvitations of controversial speakers, demands for \u201csafe spaces,\u201d and shout-downs of ideas deemed heretical \u2013 proof that the open and rigorous exchange of ideas does not come easily and must be defended.<\/p>\n

In their Atlantic<\/em> cover story, \u201cThe Coddling of the American Mind<\/a>,\u201d Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explain and explore how higher education is fast becoming a place where students expect not to be faced with or to contend with controversial ideas but to be protected from them.<\/p>\n

Commentators such as American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Hoff Summers<\/a> have drawn unflattering comparisons between Orwell\u2019s Junior Anti-Sex League and those controlling campus discussions today. The subtle change from \u201cthese ideas are incorrect as matters of logic and evidence\u201d to \u201cit is immoral to even subject these ideas to rigorous inquiry\u201d threatens to subject the liberal arts and sciences to a thought police.<\/p>\n

Obedience Only<\/strong><\/p>\n

The way the characters in 1984<\/em> are \u201cconditioned\u201d once their subversive activities are found out turns this novel from interesting dystopian fiction to an absolutely terrifying classic. Mere obedience is not enough for the Party officials. They can only be satisfied, if that\u2019s the right word, once they completely occupy the thoughts and wants of their subjects.<\/p>\n

An obedient objector is still a potentially dangerous revolutionary. Dissent \u2013 anything other than wholehearted, brainwashed obedience \u2013 is intolerable. The humanity of Winston is completely abolished, and in a fate worse than death, his resistance is crushed and he comes to love Big Brother.<\/p>\n

On this, the 68th anniversary of 1984<\/em>\u2019s publication, it is perhaps worthwhile to take a few minutes and consider whether we have unconsciously adopted the three slogans of the Party \u2013 War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength. In our unthinking rush for \u201csafety\u201d of all kinds, I\u2019m afraid that in some ways, we have.<\/p>\n

Reprinted from Learn Liberty<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n


\nArt Carden
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Art Carden<\/strong> is an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford University\u2019s Brock School of Business.\u00a0In addition, he is\u00a0a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics, a Senior Fellow with the Beacon Center of Tennessee, and a Research Fellow with the Independent Institute. He is a member of the FEE\u00a0Faculty Network<\/a>. Visit his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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