‘1984’ in 2024: The rise of ‘The Party’ and the end of liberty
On June 8, 1949, George Orwell gave us his vision of a dystopian future when 1984 was published, and as the 2024 election season gets underway, we could see the rise of “the Party” and the end of liberty, resulting in the totalitarian state he warned about.
Our government has become the source of collective fear, driving many to the brink of madness. And as Republicans and Democrats continue their journey to absolute power, we are moving dangerously close to seeing Orwell’s book of fiction become a reality.
When we look at this piece of literature today, the parallels between the excerpts and quotes contained in 1984 and America today are easy to identify. We see the trends of ambition and power played out in Washington on daily basis, and if we were to rely on the mainstream media for information, we might be inclined to deny this reality as “Un-Persons.”
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was right! They were wrong and he was right. ~ 1984 (George Orwell)
Liberty in America is facing extinction at the hands of “The Party.”
In Orwell’s 1984, the Party is a single entity represented by the image of “Big Brother.” In America, the Party consists of two factions (Republicans/Democrats) operating with a single purpose: complete control over every aspect of our lives. This duopoly pretends to be diametrically opposed to one another, but they share much in common.
This duopoly shares an unwillingness to acknowledge facts while willingly dismissing the Constitution. Even when faced with irrefutable constitutional evidence rejecting their agenda, the Party dismisses it as irrelevant while continuing its pursuit of ultimate power.
Orwell refers to all-powerful government as “the Party.” Ironically, Americans elect — literally and figuratively — the Republican/Democrat version of this entity. We routinely relinquish the power of the people to these private organizations known as ‘parties’ and trust that they will protect and defend the Constitution.
With every election, voters pay little attention to the means by which our ends are obtained and how liberty is being systematically destroyed. What happens when those ends are not achieved? What happens if they fail to deliver on their promises, their platforms and stated goals? What happens when there’s a loss of liberty? The answer is . . . nothing.
Power is the engine of control. American government is the ignition. Fear is the fuel.
This is how the Party has risen to dominate the political landscape in America. By manipulating the populace, the duopoly easily convinces them that the Party is the only thing standing in the gap between liberty and safety. As the guardians of our heritage and the benevolent defenders of our values, we are obliged to give them our trust and support.
Demanding this level of loyalty allows the Party to insulate itself from criticism. Any threat to the Party represents a threat to the Republic for which it stands. In such an environment, the people will question themselves before they question Big Brother. Inevitably, they suppress their suspicions and seal their lips, lest they be exposed as an enemy of the state.
Instilling fear in the people is necessary for the Party to maintain absolute control over their membership:
- The fear of loss must be so primal that it demands a unification, a surrender of autonomy, and undying allegiance.
- The fear of the Party must be so dominant that the membership defends it, justifies it, and accepts it, even when it incorporates strategies above their capacity to understand it.
This kind of blind loyalty isn’t a tendency, it’s a necessity if the Party is to survive. Still, such a deep emotional attachment is unable to exist without putting a face to it. The Party needs a uniting figure to stand strong and champion its agenda. The Party needs a “Big Brother” if it is to reach its goal of complete power.
1984 shows us what many Americans, caught up in the lies and deception of the Party, still struggle with — Big Brother doesn’t exist for the good of the people. Even the best intentions among those in government eventually give way to the desire of Republicans and Democrats to maintain power and control over the citizenry at all costs:
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know what no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me. ~ George Orwell
With the emergence of the Party in America, all the former things have passed away. Platform, policy, principle, ideology, values, the law, the prophets, and our very country have become little more than tools in the overarching conflict between liberty and tyranny.
As we approach 2024, the Party in Washington operates under a liberty-killing agenda that bears a frightening resemblance to the world George Orwell described in his novel. Just like Big Brother, federal and local governments have taken steps to control our thoughts, limit our speech, and identify criminal behavior even before a crime is committed.
The Constitution has been subjugated to the will of the Party, and liberty will die as a result.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.
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