(idea) by Sontra Tue Dec 21 2004 at 12:01:42
War is Peace:

  • By creating a perpetual war, and one that cannot be won, the party has, in effect, created peace within Oceania. If the entire population stands behind a war then they will do nothing to weaken the country, especially if the balance of power is constantly shifting. Any weakening of the party would give enemy nation a chance to play against this weakness, and thus, puts the entire country at risk.
  • As long as there is no accumulated wealth there can be no uprising. And war, even better, war without end, is the easiest way to consume wealth and resources. Thus, the easiest way to have peace is to have a continuing war instead of constantly struggling against those who oppose what problems are inherent in peace.
  • Although the Party attempts to advance technologically, the only real advances they make are in war efforts. Again, there is no struggle from those who oppose peace, because life remains, in all aspects, war active.
  • Therefore, the war that shifts enemies, but remains active will keep the peace of a nation. This, ironically enough, is a stronger peace than any other Utopian ideal, because there can never be any strong resistance within the nation for fear of creating a weakness that the enemy could exploit and then overthrow.


Freedom is Slavery:

  • When people have the freedom to do, and even think, what they want, the potential to oppose the government exists. And if one opposes the government they create a state of fear for the population, because strong opposition (and thus, revolution) leads to bloodshed. (The only bloodless revolution is one where the government steps down and those with power rarely just give it up.) So, by allowing freedom, the party would be allowing the rebels to enslave others to their fear (If the party allows such liberties as personal freedom, they run the risk of having others enslave people by abusing these personal freedoms).
  • Freedom is what drives the arts. And from art comes the strongest form of rebellion of all: creativity. Thoughts of “better” times. Stifle freedom and you stifle all desire to change.
  • The only logical step for the Party, then, is to remove the freedoms and take control away from the people.
  • It is important to note that there is a great chaos in allowing people to live free. By allowing a choice in what one wants to do, they allow for inefficiency. Just because one wants to do something, does not mean they will be the most skilled at that task. Thus, freedom is inefficient.


Ignorance is Strength:

  • The only way to keep an idea strong is to remove all suspicion of doubt. If one has no reason to question a belief, then that belief will remain. And if this lack of questioning can become indefinite, then the belief is also indefinite. Keeping people ignorant prevents doubt and creates a powerful strength in the idea.
  • It is the same idea that caused witch-hunts in centuries past. By manipulating people’s ignorance of medicine-women, one could easily claim that they used dark arts. The lack of knowledge about how these healers worked caused mass inquisitions. The group was strong in their ideals because they knew nothing of how the “witches” worked.
  • Big Brother can, through the control of history, make themselves seem akin to God. Winston himself, at the end, admits, “God is power”. The power to alter history and make it seem as if you had predicted everything is the power to declare oneself God. Or even better, to have others view you as God without being prodded to.
I like it! 2 C!s