War is Peace
Three great
superstates
Eurasia =
Northern part of Europe and Asia (Portugal to Bering Strait)
Oceania =
Americas, Atlantic Islands (including British Isles), Australasia, and Southern
Africa
Eastasia = China
and south, Japan, and large changing portions of Manchuria, Mongolia, &
Tibet
Warfare
Constant
Similar to Total War in WWII
No cause for fighting
Can’t beat each other
Small # of ppl à specialists
Few casualties
No one knows where the fighting
actually takes place
Shortage of goods and occasional
bomb in cities
Motives have changes
Always the same
war
Each superstate
too evenly matched for there to be a winner
No longer a real
reason to fight
Each superstate has its own thriving
economy – no need for the others
Can find every raw material needed
in each superstate
War used for
labor
One section
constantly fought over; no one superstate controls it all at once
Disputed areas
most used for their cheap labor
Natives of these areas are reduced
to slaves (Freedom is Slavery?)
Society veered
off its evolutionary path to a tangential one when the Party took over; science
and technology achievements slower b/c experimenting practically stopped since
way of thinking changed
Increase in gen.
wealth threatened hierarchy since hierarchies need poverty and ignorance
Ignorance in lower levels of hierarchy
= stronger upper levels and society?
Goods must be
produced but not distributed, therefore constant warfare
War b/w superstates keeps peace w/in
superstates
Use war to
destroy products that would make life comfortable
War effort eats
up any surplus beyond the bare needs of the public
Needs of public
under-estimated, but advantageous: keep people in need, makes small things more
important
War establishes
the mentality necessary for a hierarchy
Party members should have mentality
of a state of war
Doublethink –
some inner party members must know that certain statements about the war are
untrue, but they must act as if it is entirely true, and are on their way to
victory being greatest power in the world
Goals of the
Party: (193)
Conquer the whole surface of the
earth
Eliminate all possibility of
independent thought
Problems need
solving:
How to discover what another human
is thinking
How to kill several hundred million
people instantly without warning
All scientific
endeavors concerned with the above questions
Atomic bombs
have ceased to be used when their power to destroy civilizations and power was
demonstrated but all superstates still make and store them
Dream – attack
superstate, sign pact, build up bombs to give devastating blow, give devastating
blow, sign treaty with other superstate, do same thing
Essential for
superstates not to have contact with foreigners except war prisoners and slaves
because they would see how they are all similar and have been told lies
Philosophy in
each superstate is essentially the same: ingsoc, neo-bolshevism, and
death-worship
Lives dedicated
to conquest but they know the war must continue forever without victory
Reality only
exists in the minimum, past that it can be changed in any way; each superstate
is like a separate universe
War is bad word
choice – by becoming continuous, war has ceased to exist
An everlasting
peace would have the same effect as a continuous war, thus: War is Peace
Ignorance is
Strength
High à stay where they are
Middle à change places with the High
Low à create a society when all men are equal
(when they have a goal)
The High are
inevitably taken over by the Middle who enlist the Low to achieve their goal
and then send them back to the bottom
Low are never
successful; they see historical change simply as a change in name of their
master
Ingsoc,
Neo-Bolshevism, and Death-worship à promote ungood and inequality
Stop progress, High maintain status
indefinitely
Hierarchical
society no longer necessary when machinery was made à men should live in a state of
brotherhood
Authoritarian
political structures became the general consensus around the world
High create
oligarchical society in Oceania
Party owns everything in Oceania
Party members own nothing but their
personal belongings
Four Ways to Fall
From Power (207)
Conquered from within
Masses revolt b/v gov’t is so
inefficient
Strong and discontented Middle comes
into being
Loses self-confidence and
willingness to govern
If you could
guard against four above, remain in power forever; determined by attitude of
High
High only
conquerable through slow demographic changes (in current society)
Masses won’t
revolt if deprived of all means of comparison b/c won’t realize they’re
oppressed
In the eyes of
the party, only real threats:
Spliiting-off of new group of able
Underemployed
Power-hungry people
Growth of liberalism and skepticism
within Party ranks
Ignorance of
society = strength in the Party’s leadership?
Big Brother =
made up character used as the focal point of all emotions of Party members that
are usually felt toward an individual
Admission to each level of societal hierarchy by exam at the age of 16
Low level of education because society doesn’t call for it
Party membres can’t have the slightest deviation from the Party’s platform
Party members never alone
No laws, and punishments not given out for committing a crime rather for
the potential to commit a crime against the Party at a later date
Crimestop à protective stupidity
Big Brother = omnipotent
Party = infallible
Black-white à to opponent = contradicting plain facts;
to party member = willingness to say black is white when Party says so (to
know, to believe, to forget the contrary) – doublethink
Past must be manipulated
So can’t compare current
ways of life with anything, so must accept them
Protect perfect picture
of Party
Past is whatever the records and memories agree upon
Doublethink
If you must change a
memory, you must forget you did so
Hold two contradictory
beliefs at once and accept both of them
Must be conscious but
also unconscious
Able to change history w/
doublethink
Those with the best knowledge of what is happening are the farthest from
seeing the world as is
“The greater the understanding, the greater the delusion: the
more intelligent the, less sane” (215)
World conquest believed most by those who know it to be impossible
Ministries = delibeate examples of doublethink
Mystery of Party depends on doublethink
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