Don't forget Brave New World. I've never found 1984 particularly compelling because living in squalor and oppression is pretty much the one thing that can get the masses off their butts and revolt.
That's why China and Russia turned to communism, because life under the Czar and warlords was so shitty. And it's why so many countries eventually through off the yoke of communism, because that's a pretty shitty life too.
What was compelling about Brave New World is that if you package oppression as comfort and a life of leisure, people eat it right up.
Admittedly I haven't read Brave New World yet, just a summary. I see what you mean about 1984, but it's scarily predictive of just how effective propaganda, the fabrication of enemies and emergencies, and the redefinition of words can be, and how effectively leveraging them (and plain old fear) can make people abandon their own interests.
People still have their bread and circuses, and without those I'm sure they would revolt, but they have been very quick to submit to their own subjugation even on things they truly hated, like lockdowns.
Getting the masses to accept squalor without comfort might not seem terribly likely right now, but I think on a long enough timeline, if you can gradually condition their expectations, tinker with their awareness until the truth is completely obfuscated, and turn them against those few who are capable of seeing through it, you can get them to accept anything.
The biggest mistake of our current overlords (aside from believing their their own propaganda and falling into the same decline of competence they're inflicting on the world at large) is moving too fast.
All that is to say I don't find a 1984 scenario particularly implausible, and it's more than a little relevant to our current circumstances. I'll make sure to read Brave New World, though.
Don't forget Brave New World. I've never found 1984 particularly compelling because living in squalor and oppression is pretty much the one thing that can get the masses off their butts and revolt.
That's why China and Russia turned to communism, because life under the Czar and warlords was so shitty. And it's why so many countries eventually through off the yoke of communism, because that's a pretty shitty life too.
What was compelling about Brave New World is that if you package oppression as comfort and a life of leisure, people eat it right up.
Admittedly I haven't read Brave New World yet, just a summary. I see what you mean about 1984, but it's scarily predictive of just how effective propaganda, the fabrication of enemies and emergencies, and the redefinition of words can be, and how effectively leveraging them (and plain old fear) can make people abandon their own interests.
People still have their bread and circuses, and without those I'm sure they would revolt, but they have been very quick to submit to their own subjugation even on things they truly hated, like lockdowns.
Getting the masses to accept squalor without comfort might not seem terribly likely right now, but I think on a long enough timeline, if you can gradually condition their expectations, tinker with their awareness until the truth is completely obfuscated, and turn them against those few who are capable of seeing through it, you can get them to accept anything.
The biggest mistake of our current overlords (aside from believing their their own propaganda and falling into the same decline of competence they're inflicting on the world at large) is moving too fast.
All that is to say I don't find a 1984 scenario particularly implausible, and it's more than a little relevant to our current circumstances. I'll make sure to read Brave New World, though.