1984 by George Orwell

1984 by George Orwell

As President Bush moves to implement what he calls his "mandate," millions of Americans are confused as to why so many people have voted for a leader whose term was rampant with failures and deceptions (Greenberg, 2004). One can look to George Orwell's 1984 for some insight on Bush's tactic of perception management. http://www.buzzflash.com/premiums/04/11/pre04074.html"

Basically, perception management is based on the principle that truth is unessential (Greenberg, 2004). Truth is simply what the Party is able to convince the electorate is true. In 1984, this truth was that two plus two equals five. During Bush's first term, he used perception management every time he announced his certainty that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, as well as connections to terrorists and the September 11 attacks. This induced fear in the public, which gave him the power to control them.

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -- if all records told the same tale -- then the lie passed into history and became truth (Orwell, pg. 32). 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" government that creates its own realities is a dangerous one (Greenberg, 2004). However, it is even more frightening that 59 million Americans voted to re-elect George Bush, despite major evidence of many contradictory "truths."

George Orwell wrote that a central premise of the Big Brother world of 1984 was "Doublethink," which was described as "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them (Greenberg, 2004)." In 1984, being a good citizen meant "not thinking -- not needing to think." The Big Brother alternated between war and alliance with two competing empires. At one point, the enemy changes in the middle of a patriotic speech, and the audience simply accepts the new reality. They have no choice. In 1984, according to Orwell, "The heresy of heresies was common sense."

It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here (Orwell, p. 181). And the people under the sky were also very much the same -- everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just like this, people ignorant of one another's existence, held apart by walls of hatred and lies, and yet almost exactly the same -- people who had never learned to think but were storing up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would one day overturn the world."

According to Greenberg (2004): "The Bush Administration has been tremendously successful at convincing its supporters to suspend common sense. Last month, a survey by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes found that 72% of Bush supporters believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for producing them (25%). The Duelfer Report also found that Saddam Hussein did not support Al-Qaeda terrorists."

When asked whether the U.S. should have gone to war without evidence of a WMD program or support to Al-Qaeda, the majority of Bush supporters polled said no (Greenberg, 2004). However, these same voters support the war, suggesting an inability, or refusal, to accept "discernable reality."

As soon as Orwell's main character Winston opens up his diary, Orwell lets his readers know that he is making a conscious effort at self-destruction.. "A tremor had gone through his bowels (pg. 9). Winston refuses to "doublethink," or to let go of his memories of the past. This decision causes him to violate the unwritten rules of the powers that be. "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four (pg. 84).

While Winston is aware that he will be tortured and probably forced to confess to everything, he refuses to believe that his mind is not his own. However, as in any culture, individualism is limited by society. When everything in the society is controlled, individualism is confined accordingly. When the only information available to people is that 2+2=5, then that can be their only truth.

In the 1980s, the Reagan administration ordered a commission to address mental health issues (Rosas and Jackson, 2004). In 1981 the Commission on Mental Health issues its final report, launching the federal government's massive reforms to deinstitutionalize people with mental illness. While they claimed to be making efforts to provide greater access to mental healthcare and integrating people with mental illnesses back into the community, the federal government was actually shutting down mental institutions. Many mental healthcare advocates supported this measure. However, the de-institutionalization under the Reagan administration became the criminalization of mental illness, largely due to tax-cuts and as much as 25% cuts in funding.

Recently, the Bush administration announced his "New Freedom Initiative" that expands the failed policy of Reagan (Rosas and Jackson, 2004). According to Rosas and Jackson: "There are a few differences in approach, however. The most significant difference being, Bush is cozy-in-bed with pharmaceutical conglomerates allowing them to develop the government's mental health policy. The policy would be consumer driven, providing "State-of-the-art treatments" i.e. The newest drugs. But how can the emphasis be on the newest treatments when most government programs limit coverage to generic pharmaceuticals?"

Bush's Final Report proposes, "the early detection of mental health problems in children and adults - through routine and comprehensive testing and screening - will be an expected and typical occurrence (Rosas and Jackson, 2004)." Basically, this means that children will be tested regularly in schools and given psychiatric drugs. Unfortunately, this is rarely effective.

The practice of over-medicating, "constitutes a potential health threat to many children and has also created a new source of drug abuse and illicit traffic (Rosas and Jackson, 2004). The data shows that there has been a 1,000% increase in drug abuse injury reports involving methylphenidate for children in the 10 to 14 age group." This new group of prescription drug abusers burdens the already over loaded criminal justice system, and the Federal, State and local prison systems. Approximately 5.9 million Americans are under some type of correctional supervision and 13 million Americans are jailed every year. This is a huge number that will become worse if Bush's initiative is implemented. It is also a significant example of an Orwellian-type government controlling individuals for their own benefit.

While the United States boasts that it is the most democratic nation, today's society is becoming increasing accepting of lack of privacy. Security systems are constantly being installed, and while no government institution monitors these systems consistently, they have access to them if desired. In addition, the police and other agencies can search homes and seize possessions if they feel they have a justified need. Many laws are passed based on this type of "need," including the Homeland Security Act, which the United States promotes free speech in concept. However, like in Orwell's book, this basic right is constantly altered in an effort to reduce the chances of revolution. Many Americans don't see it like that, as most of the things outlawed are things like hate speech and threats to the President. However, it is frightening to think that a group of people talking about overthrowing the government could be arrested for treason or even terrorism.