Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thinking of Orwell...

Something occurs to me...

It was meant to be an indictment of the civil rights issues which an oppressive government engenders, but the government has contempt for the everyday man; they are unimportant, their activities largely unmonitored.  The protagonist of the tale is only of importance because he is a party member.

I'm thinking of the fact that in China, things keep happening relating to Tienanmen Square, such as a sympathy ad (illegal) getting into the paper because a clerk was unaware of the significance of the date.

I think this makes clear you cannot suppress information; in order to successfully suppress it, those in control have to know what it is it's supposed to be suppressing.

Democracy isn't a guard against oppression because the majority will never experience it.

No comments:

Post a Comment