In his excellent, and some would say prescient, 1948 book “Nineteen Eighty-Four” author George Orwell – himself a Socialist – describes a Socialist State called Oceanania where the population is raised, taught, and protected by a seemingly benevolent but ultimately repressive “Big Brother“. It’s a book which should be required reading by everyone as a cautionary tale of the dangers of societal control taken to the extreme.
Within this future dystopia, one small part of making sure the masses remain law-abiding is a gradual replacement and whittling down of the English language by the “Ministry of Truth” until the ability to even contemplate any action considered criminal, let alone communicate it, becomes impossible. This new language was called “Newspeak”.
Has Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, embraced George Orwell’s Socialist dystopia? Continue reading
