-> SNETNEWS Mailing List Members this is the last part of the mail sent by Scott Dykstra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> as always +++ denotes my interjections Midori Kurai warrior for peace LESSONS FROM ORWELL Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, George Orwell observed, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip. Orwell noted that language becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. And his novel 1984 explained that the special function of certain Newspeak words ... was not so much to express meanings as to destroy them. +++wel said. National security. Western values. The world community. War against terrorism. Collateral damage. American interests. +++but the term "american interests " cover a wide range of actions, the fight in Kosovo, for exemple, is really for " american interests " ? What s so wondrous about Orwellian processes is that they tend to be very well camouflaged part of the normal scenery. Day in and day out, we take them for granted. And we re apt to stay away from uncharted mental paths. +++the average american citizen has a mental path clearly established and designed, government decides what they think , what they believe... I interject here several fragments of the lyrics of the song " eye of the beholder " by metallica, here you will read, albeit crudely, how is the society manipulation. " do you see what I see ? truth is an offence you silence for your confidence do you hear what I hear ? doors are slaming shut limit your imagination, keep you where they must do you feel what I feel ? bittering distress who decide what you'll express ? do you what I take ? endurance is the word moving back instead of forward seem to me absurd doesn't matter what you see or into what you read you can do it your own way if it's done just how I say independence is limited freedom of choice choice is made for you my friend freedom of speech speech is words that they can bend freedom with their exceptions --snip-- In 1984, Orwell wrote about the conditioned reflex of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought ... and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. ++total mind conditioning DOUBLETHINK DEFINED Doublethink: the willingness to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed. Orwell described doublethink as the willingness to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed. In his afterword to 1984, Erich Fromm emphasized the point which is essential for the understanding of Orwell s book, namely that doublethink is already with us, and not merely something which will happen in the future, and in dictatorships. Fifty-three years ago, Orwell wrote an essay titled Politics and the English Language. Today, his words remain as relevant as ever: In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. +++and because of that, we are mired in thousands of words, why the most assertive words are the most used ? " significative " is one of them. Repression and atrocities can indeed be defended, Orwell added, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. +++al meant to confuse the listeners. National security. Western values. The world community. War against terrorism. Collateral damage. American interests. Media critic Norman Solomon is an author of books, including The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News and The Trouble With Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh, both published by Common Courage Press. He is a contributor to MSNBC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups Spotlight: "Classical Fencing" - Discuss the great sport and history of European fencing. http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/118 eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/thepentagonguru Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com -> Send "subscribe snetnews " to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -> Posted by: Midori Kurai <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
