The struggle against corporate entities and an aristocrat and his minions, out of touch with the people and contemptuous of their needs, was the basis for the Declaration of Independence signed in July of 1776. Today we labor under another George who fancies himself king and neo-conservatives operatives bent on undermining the Constitution and literally ruling the world at the expense of our happiness and freedom. The Bush regime in Washington and its corporate handlers are, as we speak, creating an Orwellian society within which we will all become mere cogs in the wheel of The Machine. They are traitors to the spirit of the founding of this nation. They are the aristocrats of the 21st century, the oligarchy intent on controlling every aspect of your life.
This year is also the100th anniversary of George Orwell’s birth. We revisit here his prophetic novel “1984” and a bit of its lexicon to see what has come to pass. One thing’s for sure: for those old enough to remember the period when Orwell wrote this work, the surrealism of life in 21st century America is everywhere, and the threat of its reality is upon us. Down with King George! Down with Big Brother!

Big Brother
The face of George W. Bush appears everywhere the corporate media projects it. Like Orwell’s Big Brother, the face is merely the visual manifestation of a totalitarian organization. It is the smiley face of friendly fascism or the stern face of macho cowboy governance. It seems to prevail over the nation in an ever-expanding sphere of influence, but like the face of the Wizard of Oz, it is not what it seems. Invariably, a U.S. flag will serve as a backdrop or be found close by the face. The flag is worshipped like an idol. To harm it in some way is nearly unthinkable. The manufactured reverence for the flag and the U.S. presidency, imprinted on our minds from childhood, serves to control the population by creating images perceived as being beyond reproach. Hail Big Brother! Heil Hitler! Hail to the Chief!

Crimestop
The ability of citizens to instinctively block any thoughts not in keeping with the “American way of life” or the policies of The Empire is alive and well in the U.S. in the 21st century. This includes purposely failing to grasp the simplest arguments against, or recognizing the most obvious errors of the present occupants in the Whitehouse. It involves claims of boredom about or repulsion toward any statements or opinions contrary to The Empire’s party line. Such “thinking” is nurtured and encouraged by rightwing talk radio and the neo-conservative corporate media, most notably Faux News. Most troubling, citizens are encouraged to spy on their neighbors or “suspicious persons” in the name of crime prevention or the “war against drugs” and the “war against terrorism”, often resulting in false arrests and infringements of citizens’ constitutional rights. Fittingly (in the Orwellian sense), some U.S. citizens welcome such loss of rights in the name of “security”.

Doublethink
The ability to believe in two contradictory concepts at the same time has reached near perfection in the U.S. today. The “birthplace of democracy” is fast undermining its democratic institutions. The oligarchy refers to the “threat of democracy” among themselves and “threats to democracy” among the general public. Proponents of the status quo speak out against the “liberal media” in a shrinking environment of ever more conservative media. Intolerance grows to volatile levels on the streets in a “diverse, peace-loving nation”. Members of the Bush regime’s inner circle deliver platitudes about “Christian values” while ignoring the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. These duplicities and more are all deeply held convictions.

Endless War
The “War against terrorism” proclaimed by the present occupant in the Whitehouse and his neo-conservative handlers has been termed an “ongoing war” that could continue “ten years or longer” or “how ever long it takes to get the job done”. In Orwell’s vision Big Brother says: "Oceania is at war with Eurasia. Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia."

Facecrime
Surveillance technologies can now detect agitation on the part of subjects under observation, regardless of location, through facial or body pulse recognition. Police and “security guards” (see Newspeak) are trained to detect behavior that may indicate potential “security risks” or “criminal activity”. Untold numbers of innocent people are being questioned, detained, and documented for behavior that the state deems suspicious.

Hate Week
Every week is hate week in a culture where actual compassion is discouraged and vicious competition is promoted and glorified. The present occupant in the Whitehouse began his tenure under the guise of “compassionate conservatism” (see Newspeak) and his regime then proceeded to eliminate and cut programs that sought to benefit the less fortunate and least powerful among us. The regime’s hostile approach to environmental issues reflects its lack of compassion for other life forms as well as for future generations of all life on planet Earth. The regime’s foreign policy casts nations and groups who show any independence from the regime’s influence, most recently France and Germany, the UN, and various NGOs, as the other. They encourage expressions of hatred by their supporters within the populace toward such nations or groups, as well as toward U.S. citizens (see Oldthinkers) who question the regime’s actions and policies.

Memory Hole
The mainstream corporate media functions as the disposal orifice for information not in keeping with the status quo. Either by not reporting or distorting opinions or events contrary to existing policy, or by abbreviating the time of their exposure to the public (while claiming “balanced” reporting – see Newspeak), the corporate media serves The Empire as chief censor and historian. History is constantly rewritten or forgotten if it conflicts with the corporate agenda or the status quo. While the Internet may help to rectify this imbalance or lack of alternative information, its’ reach is dwarfed by the mainstream media and its’ inherent glut of information, both valid and invalid, creates an overload which easily results in rejection of its use. The dynamics of an indoctrinated mindset among the population that demands instant gratification, and the overburdened schedules encouraged by economic realities, social engineering and promoted by the corporate media, create an atmosphere of impatience with concerted information gathering. Since the corporate media packages “news” and information, often erroneous, misleading and incomplete, in easily accessible and “entertaining” forms, most of the populace relies on such networks. What is not packaged goes down the memory hole.

Ministry of Truth
The Office of the Whitehouse Press Secretary is the executive branch of the Ministry of Truth and is deftly engaged in telling lies (see Newspeak). The mainstream corporate media, in the spirit of privatization, undertakes the remaining functions of the Ministry of Truth and presents the views and concepts sanctioned by existing policy as if it were the status quo. Though the corporate media may feel marginally obliged to report dissenting opinions or actions among others in Washington, or even the populace when such information cannot be jettisoned down the memory hole, such coverage is most often distorted, misleading and soon vanquished. Dissenting views are often portrayed as aberrations. Errors on the part of regime officials are usually dismissed as the fault of others.

Newspeak
Nothing is what it seems in the vernacular of 21st century neo-conservativism or the vocabulary of The Empire. The “War against terrorism” is the “promotion of peace”; the invasion of sovereign nations is the “liberation” of its people; the “education of our children” is the perception management and dumbing down of the population; the restrictions of our constitutional freedoms is the “security of the nation” protected by the “Patriot” Act; the disassembling of social programs is “compassionate conservatism”; the assault on the environment is “progress” and unsustainable lifestyles are the “American way of life”. “Security guards” undertake the infringement of civil rights. The “Department of Homeland Security” facilitates the loss of control over individual choice, the narrowing of options for the populace and their security within the home or in public space. The list goes on….

Oldthinkers
Recently U.S. Secretary of “Defense” (War), Rumsfeld referred in a derogatory fashion to the nations of France and Germany as “old Europe”, meaning they had become superfluous and inconsequential by not following the U.S. into an invasion of Iraq. That was only the latest in the growing number of neo-conservative campaigns to marginalize any opposition to the party line. ‘60s-bashing, the denigration of terms like “liberal” or “environmentalist” are examples of the neo-con assault on once popular notions. Through the cooperation of the corporate media and manipulation by rightwing public relations firms, concepts and lifestyles built around tolerance, goodwill, and fairness have been portrayed as foolish, unfashionable, and not in keeping with the status quo. The crimes of previous neo-con administrations have been purged from the public mind (see Memory Hole) while new crimes pose as U.S. policy, but the past actions of The Empire’s opponents are always available to defame and misrepresent.

Room 101
Super maximum-security prisons (Super Max) in the U.S. serve to remove from the population and confine not only true criminals who prey on their fellow citizens, but also revolutionaries and “conspirators” whose words and actions challenge the policies and aims of The Empire. The corporate-industrial prison complex run many such facilities, further blurring the line between allegedly accountable government and independent corporate interests. Isolation units are a large part of Super Max as well as at the recent military prison established in Guantanamo Bay by the Pentagon,) or Ministry of Peace). Such units are defined as a form of torture by most human rights organizations. Additionally, many municipal police departments in the U.S. are utilizing forms of mental and physical torture on political activists, or innocent persons caught up in sweeps, as a means of discouraging their continued activity.

Telescreen
Security cameras (see Thought Police & Facecrime) are becoming omni-present in the U.S. today. They are installed on street corners, in parking lots, malls, trains, subways and buses, as well as their stations, on planes and in airports, at ATM machines, banks, stores, offices, on streets and highways. Reports have surfaced about surveillance devices installed in home televisions and computers. Helicopters watch communities from above, while telephones, fax machines, and e-mail is monitored on the ground. Orwell’s Telescreen is today’s TellNet, it follows you everywhere.


Thought Police
Most police and security agencies in The Empire serve as Thought Police. The passage of the “Patriot” Act (see Newspeak), the proposed Son of Patriot Act, and the Total Information Awareness Program (renamed the “Terrorist Information Awareness Program” in true newspeak) are embodiments of this concept. The recent technological advances in behavioral identification, surveillance, and monitoring have created an environment where the minutest actions (see Facecrime) of the population can be observed and responded to by so-called “security guards” (see Newspeak). The pervasiveness of “security cameras” (see Telescreen), communications monitoring, and devices that see and hear through walls, has enhanced the work of these agencies to such an extent that privacy itself is no longer secure. The Department of Homeland Security (see Newspeak) may well be the home of Orwell’s Though Police.



Happy 4th of July? The War of Independence was not the “American Revolution”. The American Revolution has yet to take place.