The following correspondence originally took place here, on the Facebook wall of Voluntaryist, Larken Rose…
(replies from all third parties have been omitted for clarity)
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.’ – George Orwell, 1984
Larken Rose: Here, have a PRINCIPLE: The fact that allowing people their freedom might result in things you don’t like, and things that don’t benefit you, does not mean that forcibly infringing on people’s freedom is justified. Freedom means you don’t always get your way. Deal with it.
Rayn: The IngSoc mentality of doublethink is polluting the thought patterns of far too many to even count. And, we are quickly approaching the year 1984.
Being pro-liberty and pro-justice (hence, a Voluntaryist), I often find myself debating Statists who protect their slave-minded views with some variation on the theme that “freedom is slavery.” These types typically regurgitate thoughtless claims, such as “warlords will take over,” “criminals will run the show,” and other such completely contradictory, totally accusatory ideas. And, I usually eviscerate their faulty logic by simply pointing out that the things they fear most about freedom are, interestingly enough, exactly those which are currently *legally* happening under the yoke of the State.
Also, being pro-peace, and hence, anti-war, I also find myself in the strange position of debating Statists who claim some variation on the theme that “war is peace.” These types often dutifully explain to me that the American government is bombing the Middle-East for the sake of “reducing violence,” for “stability,” for “protection,” for “liberty,” etc., etc. They even readily agree with my assessment of their view, when I say, “so, basically, you believe that war is peace?” Very few recognize the reference, nor do they understand its implications. The idea that a war pig like Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize is completely Orwellian, alone. When I hear any mention of the pathetic “war on terror” justification, I often invoke crickets by mentioning that war, itself, is terrorism. More doublethink…
Sadly, the “ignorance” required for, and maintained by, these two major modes of doublethink lends enormous “strength” to sociopolitical collectivism, and by extension, the continued existence of a single ruling authority-head, capable of molding and forming such a gigantic mass of shapeless, empty human beings into one centrally-structured body.
