If there is a wrong thing to do, it will be done, infallibly. One has come to believe in that as if it were a law of nature.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Diary Entry (1941-05-18), "First War-Time Diary"
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/17609/
About 160 historic George Orwell papers saved for nation after outcry
Exclusive: University College London acquires Gollancz archive that was in danger of being dispersed forever George Orwell’s correspondence, contracts and readers’ reports relating…
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/09/about-160-historic-george-orwell-papers-saved-for-nation-after-outcry-gollancz-university-college-london
#GeorgeOrwell #Books #Culture #Heritage #UCLUniversityCollegeLondon
@indieauthors
I have just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell and oh my gosh, this book will stay with me for a long time. As far as I can remember it was my first time reading it, and I think reading it now has made it extra impactful.
So recognizable, especially now, you read it with the dread of knowing what is approximately going to come. Horrendous in its simplicity, a child could almost understand it...
Honestly shivers...
Published in 1945 but written between November 1943-February 1944.
Photo is the cover of the 1st edition of the book. The subtitle 'A fairy story'' was not used in later editions.
I'm reading 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell now. Only at chapter 6 but it is more and more uncomfortable as you go on. Also.. It's Freaking recognisable now, Trump is basically Napoleon the pig.
Bei WDR 5 gibt es #GeorgeOrwell s #FarmDerTiere als #Hörbuch in 8 Teilen, gelesen von Stefan Wigger.
https://www.ardaudiothek.de/sendung/george-orwell-farm-der-tiere/14470181/
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five.'
#US #USA #Trump #USPol #1984 #GeorgeOrwell
One of the most important observations in 1984 is one of the least noted; NewSpeak involves disguising the workings of dictatorial power behind a pantomime of its opposite. The propaganda arm of the regime is called the Ministry of Truth ("Minitrue" in NewSpeak). The military arm is called the Ministry of Peace ("Minipax").
We need to keep this in mind when we see governmental entity called the Ministry of Regulation, or the Department of Government Efficiency.
#1984 #GeorgeOrwell #NewSpeak
Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed -- everything else is public relations.
-- George Orwell
“The really frightening thing about totalitarianism is not that it commits “atrocities” but that it attacks the concept of objective truth: it claims to control the past as well as the future.”
—George Orwell, 4 February 1944
@bookstodon #georgeorwell #totalitarianism #history #truth #PostTruth
#1984 was profoundly ahead of it's time. It had a passage about the party ( the #government ) looking at what people are doing through their #Windows.
Wow... Strictly speaking this is not a book, but it's an essay (quite long) by a famous writer, so I'm going to add it here anyway...
The Lion and the Unicorn: socialism and the English genius (1941) by George Orwell.
Yes, that George Orwell.
Wow... There are so many parts of that essay where you just change a few names and you have got today's situation. And that English genius... Don't let that fool you... He was very critical about almost all parts of British society and many of the groups. So many quotes that are just chilling to read even now. Really interesting to read! And he is funny as well, is totally straight forward, and has got some amazing put downs! One of them that made me laugh really hard:
"Do I mean by all this that England is a genuine democracy? No, not even a reader of the DAILY TELEGRAPH could quite swallow that."
And this one is... Ouch and so freaking true for today's society as well:
"The past is fighting the future and we have two years, a year, possibly only a few months, to see to it that the future wins."
“If thought corrupts #language, language can also corrupt thought.”
I used to be able to search for things using a search engine. It would point me to a source of information, I could decide for myself if the source was good or not. But not anymore. Recently I just wasted a lot of time trying to find something using a search engine only to get lost in an ocean of AI slop.
I finally gave in and asked my question to ChatGPT and it answered my question perfectly, it even showed me where it got it’s sources of information. The places it linked me to were either no longer existent (if ever) or only vaguely related. But it at least created the appearance of citing factual sources of information, in whatever way the statistical models have been trained to give that impression to the humans who use it.
In Orwell’s novel “1984,” we saw how a single government agency took all control over information, how the staff would keep a database of facts but constantly alter these facts to fit the view of reality that their despot “Big Brother” wanted the citizens to believe. The same thing happens now with LLMs presenting a very carefully tuned image of the facts in the database.
AI chat bots are an innovative new method of brainwashing, one which nobody could have ever imagined possible even a few years ago: get everyone to trust a mechanical Big Brother because it chats with you like a friendly fellow human would.
*
Verfassungskrise in den USA..Zukunft auch in Deutschland?
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(7/n)
..Realität, sondern ein soziales Konstrukt ist', eine in der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft weit verbreitete Position."1)
Leider verwendet #Blight im Titel das falsche Modalverb, richtiger müsste es wohl heißen,
"Trump *darf keinesfalls* seinen Krieg gegen die Geschichte nicht gewinnen! "
Denn, wie alle, die sich einmal mit #DeutscherGeschichte oder #GeorgeOrwell beschäftigt haben,
"Wer die Vergangenheit kontrolliert...
"I have often laughed to think of that recruiting poster and of all the men who must have been lured into the army by just that poster and afterwards despised by their children for not being Conscientious Objectors."
George #Orwell, in his essay "My Country Right or Left" (1940)
Deception, Obfuscation & Misdirection
This is a concatenation of posts I originally made in 2016-2017--even more relevant today...
Most are familiar with the concept of #FUD—short for #Fear, #Uncertainty & #Doubt. It summarizes a strategy often used in marketing and political propaganda. Its effects are pernicious, divisive and lead to exploitation. Examples abound. Fear is a strong motivator! To resist FUD one must understand how it is practiced using the principles of #Deception, #Obfuscation and #Misdirection.
https://mdpaths.com/rrr/commentary/deception_obfuscation_misdirection/index.html
"In the West even the millionaire suffers from a vague sense of guilt, like a dog eating a leg of mutton."
--George Orwell, 'Coming up for air,' published in 1939.
Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed -- everything else is public relations.
-- George Orwell
Lying awake my wandering mind associated the #Communist newspaper of the #USSR named #Pravda, which commonly translates as #Truth, with the #neoFascist in the Whitehouse naming his media platform Truth.
It's interesting how the principles and values play out in reality.
"What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening" - #Trump (2018)
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command" - #GeorgeOrwell, #1984 (1949)
16/
@brewsterkahle interview (noted by @remixtures https://tldr.nettime.org/@remixtures/114196771823446685)
https://www.kqed.org/news/12031980/what-happens-if-the-internet-archive-goes-dark
"The bigger picture [...] and the real contest is not about money, it’s actually about control. Can #libraries own anything in the digital world? Is there digital ownership?" [...] " The average life of a web page is 100 days before it’s changed or deleted. If we do not actively collect them and preserve them and keep them accessible, we’re living in the memory [hole] universe of #GeorgeOrwell"
