“The Party” (and other irksome words)
Posted on April 23rd, 2010
In the following excerpt, feel free to replace the words “the party,” “revolution,” “dictatorship,” “persecution,” and “torture” with others that you may think may be more appropriate for the here and now. After all, simply changing the words might lead you to see more clearly the kind of change you can believe in.
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. [The Party is] not interested in the good of others; [the Party is] interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power; pure power. [. . . N]o 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 do you begin to understand [. . .]?”
Well, that last part is worth repeating:
“Now do you begin to understand?”
Postscript:
Sometimes I read (or reread) a book that has such a profound effect upon me that I stagger under the impact of the experience. My reading of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four in the middle of April 2010 is one of those experiences. The prophetic ironies of Winston Smith’s ordeals very much bother me. What about you?
“We shall meet again in the place where there is no darkness.”
Tags: April, Darkness, Dictatorship, Excerpt, Experiences, George Orwell, Happiness, Intention, Ironies, Lead, Nineteen Eighty Four, Persecution, Postscript, Profound Effect, Sake, Torture, Winston Smith
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