Orwell and Obama, Four Plus Four Equal Five

George Orwell
“1984”

O'Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.

'How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'

'Four.'

'And if the party says that it is not four but five--then how many?'

'Four.'

The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston's body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O'Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.

'How many fingers, Winston?'

'Four.'

The needle went up to sixty.

'How many fingers, Winston?'

'Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!'

The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four.

'How many fingers, Winston?'

'Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!'

'How many fingers, Winston?'

'Five! Five! Five!'

'No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?'

'Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!'

Abruptly he was sitting up with O'Brien's arm round his shoulders. He had perhaps lost consciousness for a few seconds. The bonds that had held his body down were loosened. He felt very cold, he was shaking uncontrollably, his teeth were chattering, the tears were rolling down his cheeks. For a moment he clung to O'Brien like a baby, curiously comforted by the heavy arm round his shoulders. He had the feeling that O'Brien was his protector, that the pain was something that came from outside, from some other source, and that it was O'Brien who would save him from it.

'You are a slow learner, Winston,' said O'Brien gently.

Apparently, we are all slow learners. The Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration has been engaged in a war against free thought. Opponents of the healthcare bill are summarily dismissed as “wrong” and those that would dare take to the streets in protest are labeled as manufactured anger, “Astroturf” and angry mobs. After all, no one in their right minds would argue against the wisdom of government control of healthcare.

For years we have been on the path to allowing our Constitution to be diluted to allow for government control of our very thoughts. Fox news dared to report news items that were contradictory to the administration’s positions and the White House retaliated by dismissing them as an opinion market similar to talk radio and even went as far as suggesting that other media organs ignore the work of Fox with the implication that if they dared to “follow the leader” that they would suffer the same fate.

Of course, this is nothing new. It is the next logical step in the demoralization of America that began decades ago. Political correctness had infiltrated our culture and slowly began the work of eliminating the ability of Americans to state with certainty what is right and what is wrong. Thirty years ago, the education system starting dabbling with “outcome based education” on the premise that self esteem was far more important that the actual school work and students were, for the first time in history, graded for their effort and not for actually getting the right answer. In essence, two plus two could equal five and still gain an “A” rather than bruise the fragile ego of our young scholars.

What did that get us? An entire generation of students that failed miserably when compared with foreign students and an emerging work force of new graduates that were unprepared for the reality that is the meritocracy of corporate America. Productivity waned as these new “worker bees” infiltrated the workplace bringing with them everything they learned in school. On Monday morning, many lounged about discussing what they did over the weekend until Wednesday afternoon when the conversation shifted to what they were planning for the upcoming weekend. Work remained half completed and that half was poorly done. When time for review came, the dreamers felt ill used when the money wasn’t available for substantial raises even though their own absence of drive contributed to the lack of revenue.

The worst display of Orwellian behavior comes from the government itself. Mark Lloyd, who was appointed by Obama to the newly created position of “Chief Diversity Officer” within the FCC, is unapologetic about his disdain for the First Amendment. He feels that tragically, a free press nearly collapsed Hugo Chavez’s socialist revolution in Venezuela and that the First Amendment in this country stands in the way of crucial reform that would benefit the minority community. He has proposed fining private media the equivalent of 100% of their annual operating budget if they fail to meet his idea of diversity and to use that money to fund public broadcasting run by minority interests. The fact is that private media can never meet his idea of diversity unless they relinquish control of the station to a qualified minority and changed their programming, abandoning conservative values in lieu of something more reflective of progressive ideals. As is turns out, Mr. Lloyd’s idea of diversity is strictly race based and lacks an awareness of the gains our nation has made in the elimination of race as a reason for exclusion. It seems that the only place that determination based on race is still permissible is within the Federal Government.

Tomorrow we will delve into the dark chasm of political correctness and the damage that has wrought on our nation.

Paul