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in a Stalinist country, take 'populism' with a one ton grain of salt
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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Edited Jun 26, 2009, 15:34
Re: in a Stalinist country, take 'populism' with a one ton grain of salt
Jun 26, 2009, 15:34
handofdave wrote:
There's lots to go into there, but I should point out that Winston in '1984' only comes to love Big Brother after he's tortured and thoroughly brainwashed.

Uh-huh. But he's one of the tougher ones; the protagonist of a novel no less. Most never need to visit Room 101.

And I think it's fair to assume that daily life in North Korea features many forms of "torture and brainwashing". Part of everyone's routine. For the past couple of generations.

handofdave wrote:
The two minute hate was a way for Oceana to divert the anger and frustration it engendered away from itself and toward a safe target. For a society living in a constant state of paranoia, any sort of sanctioned chance to unleash rage is taken advantage of. Scapegoating gives people someone to blame.

I'm not arguing with that. Merely that Orwell wants us to realise that it works. The hate and anger is real. And it's directed outwards. Then when the image of Big Brother (the Glorious Leader) is displayed, there's the hit of endorphins that all that rage sparked off. Peace, comfort... love.

handofdave wrote:
Yeah, sure, there must be some N.Koreans that believe all the crazy horseshit they're fed, but that's mostly because they get no other sources of information.

That certainly has a lot to do with it alright.
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Re: in a Stalinist country, take 'populism' with a one ton grain of salt (handofdave)
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