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Indeed, the effects of the indoctrination caused by religion can still be witnessed today. For instance, the number of converts to Islam is rising on an annual basis. What is important to point out is that the very first sentence of the Quran [holy book for Muslims] is “This is a book wherein there is no doubt” (7). This sentence is unequivocally clear and lays out the first expectation from all followers of the faith: total and blind obedience. In sum, the history of mass conversion to the world’s monotheistic religions shows the two basic elements needed to achieve passivity and ignorance. In the case of religion, mindlessly following the commands of the person claiming to be a prophet and organizing these commands into a book forms the ideology. This book, which is then given divine status, later becomes the medium by which to spread the ideology and preserve it from any free and intelligent thinking. Similar to any other oppressive system of power, religion uses the divine book to reward blind obedience with “handsome rewards” (8) and punish free, rational thought with brutal retribution (9).
The reference to the formation of religious ideology is to show that one can see repetition in history. The basic way of preserving an ideology and enslaving people while doing it has not changed because of the two basic elements outlined above. In the context of the contemporary power system, corporations, capitalism, illusions about a “free market”, and a façade of democracy form the ideology of modern industrial nation-states. This ideology is protected and preserved from free thought by using the media as a means to communicate the rewards of obedience [i.e. through showing images of wealth], and the punishing of free thought by simply ignoring it. In a world where media are the most effectual tool of mass communication, ignoring something is parallel to suppressing it. If a tree falls and no one hears the fall, no one can perceive that a tree has fallen because perception relies on our senses, whether it is sight or hearing. Similarly, blocking our eyes and ears from something allows the media to block us from perceiving that thing, especially if that thing jeopardizes ideological stability.
These mechanisms, designed to preserve existing power arrangements, also serve to misrepresent any prospects for change. For example, through the use of imagery, the media misrepresent the alternative to the current system as communism, which is admittedly as oppressive as the existing set of structures. Images of starvation in North Korea and destruction in Cuba are attributed to communism and it is asserted that that is the alternative to modern day capitalism. Moreover, images of Saddam Hussein’s library, which was incidentally stacked with the works of Marx and biographies of Stalin, have been shown to correlate Marxism with a brutal dictator. These correlations, achieved through skilful manipulation of imagery, have proved to be effective. The continuance of the current order without any significant popular protest or organization is evidence of their effectiveness.
If it has not reflected it already, this year has proven to be another year closer to Orwell’s vision of the future as captured in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell’s novels typically depict a perceptive and emotionally isolated individual in an oppressive social environment. A look at the world in 2004 would reveal that the masses, which are aggregates of alienated and isolated individuals, live in highly oppressive societies and are convinced that they are powerless. Feeling powerless, combined with having made to be passive and submissive to power, the world’s population is indeed living in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
With the United States as the leading state in committing international terrorism with unprecedented aggression and disregard for international law, dictatorships in the developing world have indeed been strengthened. The reason for this is that the world understandably sees the US as the biggest threat to international peace. For this reason, Third World populations find the need to unite behind a “strong” leader such as Kim Chong Il in order to ameliorate their fear. This in turn means that Third World populations feel persuaded to support brutal dictators and thus perpetuate their own oppression.
The longest military occupation in modern history, namely that of the Palestinian Occupied Territories by Israel further helps to discern Orwell’s vision. Israel’s implementation of martial law, arbitrary arrests of Palestinian youth, destruction of Palestinian homes, ruthless torture of prisoners, and suppression of hope point to the English writer’s fear of absolutism. It seems as if these fears have been realized. Never in modern history has humanity succumbed to authoritarianism and military aggression. Why did we fight Hitler, capitalism, racism, sexism, but now allow for everything we achieved to be given away because of the greed of a few men? Why did we resist Hitler’s aggression but are now passive about George Bush’s aggression? Are they not both murderers of defenceless children? There are only two differences between Bush and Hitler.
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Nima Shirali
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