1984 : Newspeak
Now : Politically Correct speech
1984 : The red sash of the Junior Anti-Sex League
Now : The red ribbon of the Anti-Aids celibacy league
1984 : Telescreens in every room. The programming runs 24 hours
a day, and the proles have no way of turning their screens off.
Now : Televisions in every room. The programming runs 24 hours a
day, and the proles rarely turn their screens off.
1984 : Telescreens in all public and private places, so the
populace could be watched to prevent thought-crime.
Now : Surveillance cameras in most buildings (operated by
businesses), and in some public streets (operated by police) to
prevent crime. Although most of these cameras are operated by
private businesses instead of our intrusive government, the end
result is the same.
1984 : Helicopters silently watch over the masses to keep people
from committing thought-crime, by planting the fear of "always
being watched"
Now : Helicopters silently watch over our highways to keep
people from breaking traffic laws, by planting the fear of
"always being watched"
1984 : Lotteries with very few (if any) winners. Held just to
collect income for state, and to give hope to the masses
Now : Lotteries with very few (if any) winners. Held just to
collect income for state, and to give hope to the masses.
Lotteries are basically a tax on stupidity. Anybody with any
understanding of math at all knows that it is a complete waste
of money. Since only 45% of the money collected from sales is
sent back out as prizes, odds are that you are going to loose
more than half of the money the put into it - and most people
will not see any return on their investment what-so-ever.
Every time I see some minimum-wage-earning mother-of-four
throwing her her hard earned five dollar bill down on the
counter for a pack of cigarettes and a "chance to win millions",
my cold heart melts. Lotteries and cigarette taxes are nothing
more than a way to squeeze every last cent possible out of the
lower and middle class, and the politicians that are responsible
for these "poverty taxes" should be drug out into the street and
shot.
When the state sold the idea to state run gambling to the
public, they told us that the money would go to education. ("How
can you be against the kids!") But, they failed to tell us that
the existing funding would be pulled away to fund other
projects, resulting in little if any gain for education.
And as I mentioned earlier, only 45% of lottery revenues are
returned directly to the people in the form of prizes. And, if
you happen to be the person that defies the odds and somehow
manages to win that 45%, the federal and state taxes are going
to reclaim 30%-50% of your winnings, which only leaves about
25%-30% of the original take for the the winners - the other
70%-75% being taken by the state.
And, as if that wasn’t enough money to make the state happy, the
"big money" prizes are usually paid off over a 20 year period.
So, the prize winner’s earning are diminished even further by
inflation. But really, when you look at it, the government is
actually keeping ALL of the money...
If a person wins $1,000,000, their yearly payments would be
$50,000 a year. However, the interest on $1,000,000 at the prime
rate (approx 8%) is is about $80,000 a year!... $30,000 more
than is being paid off to the winner! Of course, the winner may
elect to take half now ... which means state and federal
governments will end up retaining 85%-90% of the original
receipts!
And of course, any purchases made with your winnings will be
subject to local sales tax...
No matter how you look at it, the only real winner is the state.
1984 : Ministry of Peace
Now : Department of Defense
1984 : Useless statistics, incorrect economic predictions, and
slanted opinions polls are presented on the telescreen as
"legitimate news", to give people the impression that "things
are getting better", and that all people agree with the popular
way of thinking.
Now : Useless statistics, incorrect economic predictions, and
slanted opinions polls are presented on the Evening news as
"legitimate news", to give people the impression that "things
are getting better", and that all people agree with the popular
way of thinking.
1984 : History is being rewritten, to conform with modern
beliefs. All references to old-think were being removed or
rewritten.
Now : History is being rewritten, to conform with modern
beliefs. The most obvious example of this - The removal of
"racist", Violent, or Sexist material from popular cartoons.
"Heckle & Jeckle" cartoons have been permanently shelved, since
they are said to portray "negros". "Tom & Jerry" cartoons that
contained the "mamma" character have also disappeared. You no
longer see Daffy’s head actually being blown off by Elmer. I
recently saw an old superman cartoon in which the sexist line,
"Isn’t that too dangerous for a woman" (referring to Lois) was
removed.
1984 : People are steered away from consuming rare goods such as
Chocolate, Steak, Sugar, Coffee, Cigarettes, and alcohol by
rationing.
Now : People are steered away from consuming rare goods such as
Chocolate, Steak, Sugar, Coffee, Cigarettes, and alcohol by
warnings that declare that these items are bad for your health.
1984 : There is always war. If peace is made with one country,
war is claimed on another nation to keep the military machine
rolling.
Now : There is always war. If peace is made with one country,
war is claimed (or threatened) on another nation to keep the
military machine rolling.
1984 : Songs are created by machines. This is done to make sure
nobody can take credit for songs, or write songs not in line
with Ingsoc.
Now : Songs are created by synthesizers. Nobody can
realistically take credit for their own songs because most songs
are re-mixes or a collage of dubs from other people’s music.
1984 : Telescreen is full of confessions from "Thought
criminals". They confessed to hatred of the government, crimes
of all kinds, perversions of all kinds.
Now : Daytime talk shows are full of white trash who enjoy
sharing tales of their pathetic existence with the whole world.
1984 : From Goldstein’s book -
"The effect (of the atomic
wars) was to convince the ruling groups of all countries that a
few more atomic bombs would mean the end of organized society,
and hence of their own power. Thereafter, although no formal
agreement was ever made or hinted at, no more bombs were
dropped. All three powers merely continue to produce atomic
bombs and store them up against the decisive opportunity which
they all believe will come sooner or later.
And meanwhile the
art of war has remained almost stationary for thirty or forty
years. Helicopters are more used than they were formerly,
bombing planes have been largely superseded by self-propelled
projectiles, and the fragile movable battleship has given way to
the almost unsinkable Floating Fortress; but otherwise there has
been little development.
The tank, the submarine, the torpedo,
the machine gun, even the rifle and the hand grenade are still
in use. And in spite of the endless slaughters reported in the
Press and on the telescreens, the desperate battles of earlier
wars, in which hundreds of thousands or even millions of men
were often killed in a few weeks, have never been repeated."
Now : The effect (of the only nuclear war in history, WWII) was
to convince the ruling groups of all countries that a few more
atomic bombs would mean the end of organized society, and hence
of their own power. Thereafter, although the threat of atomic
war remained, no more bombs were dropped. All atomic powers
merely continued to produce atomic bombs and store them up
against the decisive opportunity which they all believed will
come sooner or later. And meanwhile the art of war has remained
almost stationary for fifty or sixty years.
Helicopters are more
used than they were formerly, bombing planes have been largely
superseded by self-propelled projectiles, and the fragile
movable battleship has given way to the aircraft carrier, (which
generally stays far away from any actual combat); but otherwise
there has been little development. The tank, the submarine, the
torpedo, the machine gun, even the rifle and the hand grenade
are still in use. And in spite of the endless slaughters
reported in the Press and on the television, the desperate
battles of earlier wars, in which hundreds of thousands or even
millions of men were often killed in a few weeks, have never
been repeated.
