Rethinking 1984

I remember back when I read the Cliff Notes version of George Orwell's 1984 for a class I was taking. Life under Big Brother seemed like it would be a bad thing then, but that was before The Day That Changed Everything.

Now, in 2004, twenty years after the time in which the story was set, I understand Big Brother's world. I see the value of constant surveillance. I revere newspeak and detest thoughtcrime.

We live in an age where peace groups are infiltrated by agents of the state security apparatus, when our library records can be reviewed without a subpoena, when our Secretary of Defense tells us Oceania is at war with Iraq and Oceania has always been at war with Iraq, when politicians and opinion leaders tell us that dissent is treason, a thoughtcrime. We're safer now because of it.

As I thought about all the great things Our Leader has done to turn America into Oceania, it struck me that it is something that should be commemorated, so I created a series of t-shirts to do so. Some may argue that the design honoring Deputy Leader doesn't really relate to New Oceania, but I think it signifies the coming glorious day when life under Our Leader will be like having a boot ground into our faces, forever. I find that thought comforting. It makes me feel secure.