"It isn't a very long step from a conformist society to a regimented society. Although it would take longer to create an Orwellian nightmare through voluntary surrender of individuality -- and thus of independence -- than through totalitarian edict, the results would be very much the same."
- J. Paul Getty
Bp
2 comments:
While it is tempting to say that we are on the verge of such a totalitarian edict, the truth is that we have been on a march through the "voluntary surrender of individuality" for many years.
The trend was already underway when Dwight Eisenhower gave his farewell speech in 1960, in which he cited the dangers in the rise of what he called "the military industrial complex." Eight years before that, Senator Eugene McCarthy led a witch hunt for real and alleged Communists throughout our society. I assert that we've been complacent in surrendering our rights and liberties for at least that long.
The rise of the mass media has accelerated the journey.
One encouraging thing -- if it was not being resisted, or easy to pull off under our current cultural/political circumstances, it would have been completed by now.
We have that hehe.
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